Throughout his career as a painter, Edward Cooke travelled extensively in Europe, visiting France, Holland, Italy, Spain, North Africa and Scandinavia. Paintings and drawings resulted from all his travels, but it is evident that the places that provided the strongest fascination for him besides the southern coastline of England were the beaches and estuaries of Holland and the topography of Venice and Italy.

Rapid sketches such as this made at Lake Como show Cooke’s skilful and intuitive grasp of essentials. In the foreground are two boats on shore and a man and woman arm-in-arm looking at the lake. Beyond, in the left background, are two hastily sketch figures leaning on the dock railings. As in other similar works, Cooke has noted the location of the drawing in the inscription below. This work can be dated to 1 October 1862 in accordance with the diary entry for this date.