JOHN MITFORD Tour of France, Italy
On paper
Northern Italy, March - July 1822
Osborn MS D. 320, ff. 151v - 152r
During his tour of Italy, the English clergyman and literary
editor John Mitford visited Petrarch's house in Arquà
and made this drawing of Petrarch’s tomb near the
local church. The simple and charming drawing depicts
the tomb framed by two trees (probably laurels in remembrance
of the laurel that Petrarch associated with his beloved
Laura), but without the actual nearby church or the epitaph.
The drawing is labeled “TOMB of PETRARCH at ARQUA.”
Mitford also made a drawing of the beautiful Euganean
Hills that surround Arquà (f. 116v), which he labeled
“VIEW seen from a Window in PETRARCH’S house.”
