Landscape was one of Rubens's favourite genres. In his interpretation it is always a grand panorama of the universe, and not a depiction of a specific locality. Compositionally this early landscape is a sort of triptych: the centre is marked by a rock, while the left and right sections are presented in a sharp contrast of day and night. The majesty of nature is awe-inspiring: darkness creeps out of a cave-womb and envelops the earth. The almost convulsive efforts of the man restraining the heavy cart spreads out in invisible waves across the whole area of the painting, filling everything around with exceptional tension.
The painting came from the famous Walpole collection at Houghton Hall in England that Catherine II purchased in 1779.