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.

Despite the evident rapidity of this sketch made on the spot, Cooke shows his capacity to grasp essentials with meticulous accuracy, as well as demonstrating his love of architecture. The drawing shows an oblique view of the façade of the early Christian Basilica of Sant' Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna.