This painting depicts a dramatic, north European mountain landscape. The sharp outlines of the wooded slopes in the foreground, with a ravine and a waterfall, stand out against the backdrop of a valley and distant blue mountains – a fantasy landscape very much representative of the Flemish tradition from the 16th century on. The light entering the scene touches the highest treetops and illuminates broad swathes of the landscape stretching out below. Groups of travellers and pilgrims
make their way along a road edged by tall cliffs and steep precipices.