About the Work
The building is the same as the one in the previous drawing, but seen here from a shorter distance, directly from the opposite side of the river. On the right-hand side, parts of the hills and the river lie underneath the dark grey wash, which indicates that the trees and the river bank beneath them were subsequently added in a dark wash, in order to complete the composition. If these drawings originally came from a sketchbook, the figures on the back may have been added later; if it was created as a single sheet, however, it is more likely that Claude reused a sheet of paper on which he had already made a drawing. The large shadow that shines through from the landscape drawing on the back suggests that the landscape was drawn later. Both drawings were probably made at the same time. In view of the relationship between the figures on the back and the painting of a coastal scene dating from 1639 (MRP 44), which Roethlisberger has pointed out, it seems likely that they date from about 1639.
