By the Venetian Column, Piazza delle Erbe, Verona, Italy

Callow undertook his first visit to Italy, including Verona in the autumn of 1841, he described Verona as having 'whole streets of fine palaces, intermingled with Roman and other antiquities. Following his second trip of 1846, he wrote 'to my mind it ranks next to Venice in point of interest. The market-place was a great source of interest to us; Italian ladies with black veils wandered about making purchases at the stalls covered with huge white umbrellas made an animated scene' (op. cit., p. 98). The Piazza della Erbe is Roman in origin and originally served as the town's forum, today it is still at the heart of the city.