In the company of his patron Lord Palmerston, Pars' 1770 tour from Switzerland to Italy was the first to record the dramatic scenery of the continent in what Binyon called the 'earliest revelation of the high Alps to the untravelled English'. He exhibited seven views at the Royal Academy on his return, marking the beginning of the long relationship between English artists and the Alps, continued by figures such as J. R. Cozens and Francis Towne. He arrived in Geneva on 15 June 1770, and on Saturday 21st set out for Chamonix. On the way, they dined at Bonneville, and it must have been on this day or the following one that the present drawing was executed.
Pars had already asserted himself as an exploratory artist, taking part in an archeological expedition to Turkey and Greece in 1764, from which he brought back drawings of both the landscape and antiquities.
Roger Makins was a British Diplomat who was Ambassador to the United States (1953-6). As a collector he is best known for his Collection of Pre-Raphaelite Art but he also put together a fine collection of Early British Drawings, the majority purchased from the prestigious London dealers Agnew’s and Spink.