Robert drew numerous views of Saint Peter's during his first stay in Italy between 1754 and 1766. The present drawing can be dated from between 1756 and 1760, a period characterised by heavy and regular hatching in red chalk combined with a very schematic treatment of the figure. A comparable drawing from this period is in the Louvre, V. Carlson, Hubert Robert, Washington, 1978, no. 1, illustrated