Patel's landscape shows the impact on Paris taste of classical landscapes arriving from Rome.
It was painted shortly after the arrival in Paris of works by the neo-classical artist Claude, which belonged to the Duc de Bouillon.
Patel probably never visited Italy, but here creates a version of the Roman Campagna.
He uses the same framing trees and elegiac ruins popular with Claude's patrons.
The Holy Family pause beside a derelict temple covered with picturesque antique bas-reliefs; behind them a vista opens between trees to a blue seascape.
