About this artwork

Lear travelled to Mount Athos in northern Greece, the Holy Mountain of the Orthodox Church, in September 1856. He spent three weeks visiting the twenty principal monasteries and made fifty sketches. He hoped these would prove valuable material for new commissions, as few western Europeans had then visited Athos. The monastery of Zographou stands surrounded by cypress groves at the centre of the Athos peninsula. It is home to a community of Bulgarian monks. Lear has included a miniature study of a doorway in the right foreground of this sketch.

Updated before 2020

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Edward Lear

Edward Lear