The Snite's drawing is an unusually complete and finished composition that demonstrates the artist's gifts as a draftsman. Signed and dated 1801, the drawing is also a rare example of his earlier works, which unfortunately are often known to us today only from prints. Bertin's treatment and formulation of the diverse elements of the composition share many of the same qualities as the artist's finest paintings. The conscientiously balanced and constructed composition, with demarcated planes receding in an orderly manner into the distance, is obviously a fundamental part of his idealized style. Also characteristic are the classically dressed figures at an altar and the architectural structures integrated into the background. Although these features are reminiscent of Poussin, Bertin's careful attention to such details as specific types of trees, the reflections in the water, and the soft sense of diffused light and shadows reveals a new sensitivity to naturalism that foretells later currents in nineteenth-century art.

from Spiro, Nineteenth-Century French Drawings (Notre Dame, 2007)