The castle and park of the Chigi family in Ariccia were popular motifs. Here in the Alban Hills, not far from Rome, it was possible to escape the Roman summer heat. In its representation of the castle and the vegetation, the sketch corresponds to a watercolour that Fries made on site in 1824, but yet the depiction here is almost symbolically exaggerated by the dramatic rays of sunlight breaking through the clouds. The technique is unusual, an almost monochrome oil painting in shades of brown. This could hardly be considered as an underpainting for a painting, but rather as a compositional sketch for a studio picture.