The view is from the east side of Lake Albano, with Castel Gandolfo, the Pope's summer residence, on the left and on the right, Monte Cavo with the Roman villa used by Marcus Aurelius and above it the monastery. Between them on the shore is a prominent wayside shrine and in the distance lie the Roman Campagna with aqueducts, the Sabine Hills and in the centre, Vesuvius, translated from its actual site near Naples. In the foreground, a woman, two children and a dog stand on a rocky hilltop and a woman and child are seated to their right.