The peripatetic Sargent made his second trip to the Middle East in 1905-6 to conduct research for a mural commission for the Boston Public Library. While traveling through Syria and Palestine, he captured the sights and scenery in a series of watercolors and sketches. In this view from Jerusalem, Sargent recorded the gentle descent of the landscape toward the horizon. The vivid hues of the sky and the contrast of the warm and cool colors on the ground suggest a transitional moment, probably sunset. (http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/12097) Despite Sargent's professed preference for pan colors, the bright impastos of Venice, Arab Woman and From Jerusalem were made with viscous tube paints applied at full strength. (American Drawings and Watercolors in The Metropolitan Museum of Art: John Singer Sargent by Stephanie L. Herdrich and H. Barbara Weinberg, 2000; found on Google Books).