Lugano
1837
Edward Lear is best known for his silly poems like 'The Owl and the Pussycat,' but he was also a prolific traveler and landscape artist. This sketch captures the Swiss-Italian town of Lugano on October 19, 1837, a date Lear helpfully scribbled right on the wall of the building. You can see figures in traditional dress chatting by the water, with the town's church and dramatic mountains rising in the background. It's a charming glimpse into his extensive European travels, where he produced hundreds of topographical drawings long before his nonsense verse made him a household name.
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