Lear was profoundly inspired by the landscape, flora and culture of Greece. Between 1855 and 1864, he was largely based on the island of Corfu. In spring 1863, Lear toured around the Ionian Islands to make sketches for a new volume of lithographs, ‘Views in the Seven Ionian Islands’. Kithira is the most southerly of the islands, lying off the south-east tip of the Peloponnese. Lear was fascinated by the classical myth that the goddess Aphrodite rose from the sea at Kithira. He included a faint sketch of the nude goddess appearing from the water in this watercolour.