The Roman Campagna, possibly from Centocelle

Lear stayed in Rome sporadically from December 1837 until April 1848. He spent the Winter of 1844-5 there, leaving for a visit to England in May 1845-6. From dated drawings we know that he visited several places in the neighbourhood of Rome in March and early April: Terracina on 4th March, Albano on 7th March, Ardea and Practica on 10th March, and San Felice on 2nd April. Centocelle, if indeed that is the name inscribed on the drawing, is some four and a half miles from the Porta Maggiore on the road to Palestrina, and is now engulfed by the suburbs of the city.