In this signed and dated work De Jode has conjured a colourful and lively mountain scene, dominated by a stone bridge that spans the river whose valley recedes into the background. Opposite the steep left bank, a rocky mountainside intersected by a path leading down to the river below fills much of the right side of the composition. At the point on the right where bridge meets land, there rises a round fortified tower, with two houses behind. The scene is populated by numerous figures, including travellers crossing the bridge, two anglers on the left bank of the river and a woman on a donkey that is pausing for a drink in the shallows on the right. The view is rendered more striking by the low, raking light coming from the left, which casts much of the landscape in shadow, especially the foreground, and sets it off against the pale, partly cloudy sky. Glancing off rocks and figures, the afternoon sun generates a flickering effect of highlights—a technique typical of the early generations of Dutch landscapists working in Italy, including Nicolaes Berchem (1620-1683). De Jode’s flair for drama may also reflect the influence of Salvator Rosa, one of Italy’s most prominent landscapists during this period.