Despite the inscription on the back, this watercolour is clearly a mature work by Thomas Girtin. It is typical of the culminating point in his short career, his only visit abroad, to Paris, where he stayed from November 1801 until May 1802; later the same year, on 9th November, he died. It is probable that during this visit he planned a panorama of Paris as a follow-up to the one he had recently completed of London. This did not eventuate, perhaps because Girtin had heard of a rival project by J.S. Hayward, but what did result was the set of twenty etchings of June-October 1802, subsequently aquatinted by F.C. Lewis, J.B. Harraden, W. Pickett and J.C. Stadler and published by the artist's brother John in March 1803 as A Selection of Twenty of the most Picturesque Views in Paris and it environs.

As well as sketches and watercolours used for these engravings, Girtin also painted a number of other watercolours during his visit, but this newly discovered work, the only Paris view to concentrate on rooftops, is the strongest evidence yet of his intention to produce a panorama of Paris. Taken from near the centre of the city this view shows in the distance the distinctive features of La Butte Montmartre, with its windmills and the church of Saint-Pierre de Montmatre the last remnant of the Benedictine monastery, most of the site of which is now covered by the Sacré Coeur.