The preparatory drawing for this picture is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, no. 37.165.70 (Morassi, 1975, no. 527): in black chalk, pen and brown ink with old brown wash, this measures 14¾ by 10½in; the connection was recognized by C. L. Loyd in 1958.

Morassi describes this canvas as a 'deliziosa fantasia ... dipinta con estrema freschezza e bravura' and regards it as a late work. He observes (1973, p. 263) that this capriccio offers 'una certa analogia tematica' with the ex-Borletti Island on the Lagoon (Morassi, 1973, no. 662), but adds 'ma me sono del tutto inediti il taglio, la composizione, la mistura degli elementi architettonici, maggiormente dal portale barocco che interrompe l'uniformità del muro'. A smaller picture, rightly described by Bean and Griswold as in 'a less successful horizontal format', from the collection of George Blumenthal, Paris, was sold at Sotheby's, New York, 2 June 1989, part of lot 71. As James Byam Shaw observed (verbal communication), the church would seem to have been inspired by SS. Giovanni e Paolo, Venice, but is, of course, on a much reduced scale.

Lord Overstone, who bought many pictures from the dealer Anthony, was a major collector, acquiring such masterpieces as Claude's Enchanted Castle, Rembrandt's Margaretha Trip and Lancret's La Tasse au Chocolat, all in the National Gallery