View near Interlaken, on the banks of lake Thun , Switzerland

J.R. Cozens' first visit to Switzerland and Italy was in 1776-9 when he travelled with Richard Payne Knight; 1776 was the only year he passed Interlaken. He painted 57 new monochromatic drawings for Payne Knight; one of this subject is now at the Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection (see A. Wilton, The Art of Alexander and John Robert Cozens, exhibition catalogue, Yale Center for British Art, 1980, p. 40, no. 89, pl. 35). Among later products of this tour were a number of more finished watercolours, including of this subject the present example and one in the British Museum (Salting Bequest 1910-2-12-242; see C.F. Bell and T. Girtin, 'The Drawings and Sketches of John Robert Cozens: A Catalogue with an Historical Introduction', Walpole Society, vol. XXXIII, 1935, no. 15, pl. IIb). For Cozens' journey through Switzerland in 1776 see K. Sloane, Alexander and John Robert Cozens, New Haven and London, 1986, pp. 115-25.