The ‘Kitchen Sink School’ artist John Bratby executed a number of vibrantly colourful paintings and drawings of Venice in the 1980s, concentrating principally on the patterns made by reflections in the water and the shapes of gondolas. Bratby first met Queen Elizabeth in 1978 when he asked her to sit for a portrait. Somewhat to his surprise she agreed. He sent this charming drawing to Queen Elizabeth in 1984, after he had read newspaper reports of her first visit to Venice.