Landscape was the mainstay of Franz Kobell, who is thought to have created more than 100,000 works over the course of his career. This drawing is one of a large series of idealized landscapes that the artist probably made in his studio. (One art historian has noted that Kobell “considered landscape a stage, with backdrops and movable set pieces.”) Using a monochromatic palette, the artist has rendered a romantic vista in which three figures are dwarfed by a wind-torn and rain-swept coastal shore, the sky momentarily brightened by a flash of lightning.