The two large landscapes, hanging vis-à-vis, were produced as pendants. At the time, Hackert was making excursions to record the environs of Rome in drawings. On the mountain slope in the middle distance the town of Ariccia can be made out, in the foreground on the lake local inhabitants are encamped beneath an impressive chestnut tree and watch over their herd. Whereas Hackert is precise about every detail, the mood of the illumination and the painterly execution, the topographical exactness, in contrast, is insignificant. Architecture, landscape, and figures combine into an ideal image of Italy.