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This shows a view from one of the peaks on the Cader Idris ridge, looking towards the lake near the summit of a mountain. The Bay of Cardigan is in the distance. The artist has exaggerated and reshaped the scenery to give it greater presence. Nevertheless, it is a highly realistic scene by comparison with much eighteenth-century landscape art. Figures sketching and observing the scenery underline its popularity at the time.

Cader Idris means 'the giant Idris's seat'. It had powerful associations for Welsh nationalists, such as the purchaser of the painting, the landowner WIlliam Vaughan.