A Lady with her Pet Spaniel standing beside her on a Stone Window Ledge by Caspar Letscher (1639-84). It's a dog fact that they are tremendously responsive to the expression on someone's face, hence this spaniel is looking at his mistress and wondering what is happening next

One of the joys of having a dog is the sense of history it brings with it and therefore a marvellous and enriching link with one's ancestors: not just our nineteenth century ancestors (Jane Carlyle, Elizabeth Barrett Browning) but our fifteenth and sixteenth century forebears. This week on the Post: Gilbert's medieval ancestors. As we ward off the freezing cold with a rug and a dog on our lap, we imagine the woman above doing the same. Portrait of a Lady with a Little Dog by Bartolomeo Passarotti (1529-92) was painted in the late 1560s and is in the Galleria dei dipinti antichi della Fondazione e della Cassa di Risparmio di Cesena.

So difficult to choose the final David Gentleman Italian painting. But let's end with Quayside at Trani, Pugllia 1992-2. Again, the link to the (selling) exhibition is here and then of course there are all David Gentleman's marvellous books; and his work in collections up and down the country, indeed all over the world.

Nuns in the Fish Market in the Campo de' Fiori, Rome 1996. One of the things we poor post-Brexit and post- (or not so post) Covid Brits miss most is markets in French or Italian towns. In fact we dream of heaps of chanterelles, of herbs, of fennel, and of fish indeed. Of course we are grateful to have food at all and try madly to count our blessings. But still, a little bit of longing is in order, quietly. The thing to do is to have a David Gentleman painting hanging on the wall and by looking at it carefully and intently one can be transported into the picture.

The Grand Canal with Barges, Venice 1996. The very word Venice makes one's heart turn over. When, oh when, might we go there? But David Gentleman's paintings are the next best thing.

'Walls of Urbino, Marche' 1958. Many people go specially to Urbino to see this Piero della Francesca, but David Gentleman makes one see that it's worth going for the spectacular beauty of the town itself. When we can go.

The exhibition of David Gentleman's paintings, called 'On Location' and featuring his work over fifty years, closed yesterday so it can only be viewed online here. This week on the Post, as a way of narrowing the collection down – because all the paintings are so wonderful it's impossible to highlight one over another – we shall focus on Italy, partly because most of us have not been to Italy, or in fact anywhere, for nearly two years, indeed the thought of going casually there is still an impossible dream. This is the Forum in Rome, painted in 1996.