The mountain is seen from Lake Maggiore near Stresa and Pallanza, which Turner could have visited on his way to Venice in 1840 or from Bellinzona in 1841. It may therefore be a bit later than 'Mountain Scene, perhaps the Val d'Aosta' (see No.568) but is similar in status, a 'colour beginning' in oils. On the other hand Turner could have been working from memories of earlier journeys through North Italy, as on the way to Venice in 1819 and 1833.

The early history of this picture, which belonged to Sir Donald Currie by the 1890s, is unknown. For a discussion of how such works escaped being in the Turner Bequest, see under the Louvre landscape, No.620.