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.

In this drawing, dated 28 May 1846, a great bullock with sweeping horns harnessed to a country cart rests on the beach. Baskets and fruits can be seen spread on the sand. In the background the mountain of Salerno can be seen, with the inscription ‘Paestum’ above, referring to the ancient Roman port. Cooke, however, focuses on the details of the romantic, easy country life, implied in the jacket and hats hung on the cart or abandoned alongside the fruit and the patient bullock.