An Italianate mountainous river landscape with a hill-top town and an ox-drawn cart with figures

Bertin trained initially under the history painter Gabriel-François Doyen, but by 1788 he had become a pupil of Pierre-Henri Valenciennes, who encouraged him to paint idealised Italianate landscapes in the tradition of Poussin. He travelled to Italy in 1806, where he stayed for two years developing his style, which became more graceful and delicate during this period. It was at this time that Bertin began to take a greater interest in topographical detail and the effects of atmosphere and light. As early as 1801 he had proposed to the Académie that they should create a Prix de Rome for historical landscape painting, a cause he championed for many years until his wish was finally granted in 1817. It was fitting that the inaugural competition was won by one of Bertin's pupils, Achille Michallon (1796-1822).

Bertin exhibited regularly at the Salons from 1793 until his death in 1842 and he won numerous awards, including in 1822, the Légion d'Honneur. The present work depicts a hilltop town in a mountainous landscape. The town is carefully observed, with the morning light coming from the right of the picture, catching the sides of the buildings. In this treatment of light and architecture Bertin anticipates the work of his best-known pupil, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot. Here, Bertin remains true to the tradition of historical landscape by including a number of classically-dressed figures in the foreground that, despite the modernity of his style, sets the scene in Ancient past.