Between 1905 and 1914 Matisse spent various summers and one winter in the small Mediterranean port of Collioure. From his rented studio it was only a seven-minute walk to the Roca-Alta d'en Beille (Catalan for "high rock"), which was surrounded by cork oaks and umbrella pines on a hill just outside the village. From a picturesque spot above the rock he painted this view. The sinuous black lines of the trunks and branches of the stylized umbrella pines enclose flat areas of greens, blues, mauves, and earth tones, evoking an Art Nouveau stained-glass window. Not surprisingly, the Matisse family referred to this painting as Le vitrail, and it is often listed as such in early exhibition catalogues.

Through the foliage some red-roofed houses appear in the distance, along with the tower of Collioure's church, Notre-Dame-des-Anges. Dating to the thirteenth century, this tower was built as a lighthouse on a rock that juts into the sea. It served this function until, at the end of the seventeenth century, it was attached to the church, which was erected right next to it.