The Gesuati Church, on the Zattere, Venice, Italy

The church of Santa Maria del Rosario, known as the Gesuati (from the order of Poveri Gesuati, merged with the Dominicans in 1668), stands along the Zattere from the Pensione Calcina, where Ruskin, a friend of the Allinghams, stayed in 1877. It was begun in 1726 by the architect Giorgio Massari, and holds ceilings by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo and sculpture by Giovanni Maria Morlaiter, one of the ablest sculptors of eighteenth century Venice. Allingham visited Venice twice at the turn of the century and recorded many aspects of city life, a marked contrast to her watercolours of Surrey. On her return, the Fine Art Society mounted an exhibition of these views. This watercolour is one of several she took of the Gesuati Church.