In March 1973, Nicholson and his partner Angela Verren-Taunt spent three weeks on the island of Cyprus. In Kyrenia they hired a Morris 1300 in order to explore the island more fully, stopping off at various locations to carry out drawings. As Nicholson would recall these were ‘largely of monasteries’. The architectural heritage of the Greek orthodox Christianity was of strong interest to him during his travels of the 1960s and ‘70s, the strong sunlight and ecclesiastical tranquillity of such places resonating with his vague spiritual inclinations. Lambousa is the name for a ruined Roman settlement some two miles away from the current town of Lapithos in Northern Cyprus. There are more than ten churches and monasteries in the town, and it is unclear which one is the subject of Nicholson’s drawing. The paper which Nicholson used for his drawings was always prepared in the studio before making a trip. He washed individual pieces with areas of watercolour, without any regard for what might later be depicted on the sheet. From the 1960s, he routinely started shaping the paper, creating irregular rectangles and sheets with rounded sides. A great many sheets, washed in different ways and cut in different shapes, were then carried around in a satchel. Once a subject or a view was decided upon, Nicholson cast about in the satchel to find a piece of paper that suited the immediate needs of his drawing. This well-practiced method ensured a certain richness of quality and often resulted in unexpected, enlivening contrasts between the subtle watercolour wash and the line drawing which followed it.