The area around the Château Noir near Aix in Cézanne's native Provence was often depicted by the artist. In this sombre late painting, he focuses on a remote and rocky ridge to the north-east of the house. So steep is the hill and so densely overgrown the foliage that the sky is only just glimpsed as patches of pale blue.

Until recent fires ravaged the area, the forked tree that Cézanne depicted at the right still stood on the site.