During his travels in the Italian countryside, Henner came face to face with a new culture and enthusiastically discovered the richness of local costumes.
In his sketchbooks, he begins copying the characters he observes, who "all seem to be made on purpose to be painted" he writes to his friend Goutzwiller. Young women are the most interested in posing.
In addition to drawings, Henner supplied small paintings of these picturesque scenes, such as this seated Italian woman knitting.
