Interior of St Peter's, Rome, looking north-east

In September 1853 Roberts set out to join his friends Charles and Louis Haghe on a trip to Rome. They met in Paris and travelled through France, then by diligence along the coast road to Genoa, by sea to Leghorn [Livorno] and train to Pisa then Florence, before returning to Leghorn for sea passage to Civita Vecchia and coach to Rome, arriving in late October. Roberts' main aim was to paint an interior of St Peter's and he had not intended to stay long in Rome. But permission to work in the basilica was so restrictive that it took him much longer than he had planned.