A work of the artist's mature years, this composition was probably a presentation piece for a patron, judging from its high degree of finish and virtuoso technique. The drawing was painted almost entirely with the tip of the brush to obtain delicately pictorial effects of light (for example, in the rays emanating from between the clouds) and an atmospheric conception of space.

The sheet portrays an idyllic, classically inspired scene in which the scale and the robust vegetation of the landscape, with ancient Roman ruins and distant towns and farmhouses, overpower the small figures of the farm laborers harvesting grapes in the foreground. The dynamic presentation of the scene and the dazzling technical skill seen here explain Pietro da Cortona's stature as one of the most innovative landscapists in Baroque art.

With its obvious reference to the seasonal bounties of autumn, the drawn scene may have been made in connection with a painting cycle (in fresco or in canvas) to decorate the interior of a villa or palazzo. During the 1630s Pietro da Cortona was engaged in a number of villa decorations in Rome and the surrounding countryside and was also at work on the festive mythological frescoes in the Pitti Palace in Florence.

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