An unusually complete drawing, made more pictorial by the inclusion of features from the landscape and adjacent buildings. Mackintosh drew the church on 26 June 1891 and noted in his diary: 'Basilica S Abbondio outside town very charming old church. Some old frescoes in interior but not up to much.' The twin towers of the Basilica were a feature which obviously impressed Mackintosh as they appeared in his competition design for Glasgow Art Gallery, 1892, and his design for a Railway Terminus for the Soane Medallion Competition, 1892.