Camp at the Foot of the Mountain n.d.

The use of ink rather than graphite in this work allows for sharper contrasts and subtler effects of relief and shadow. The schematic rendering of the mountains, the tipis, and the human figures is similar to that of the engravings and drawings that were plentiful in contemporary illustrated papers. The mountainous landscape, arid and steep, recalls the land around Rocmont, north of the village of Jeune-Lorette.

Camp at the Foot of the Mountain is one of a series of ten landscapes by Zacharie Vincent in the collection of the Château Ramezay, in Montreal. Grouped together, they compose a kind of narrative sequence drawn from Huron-Wendat history, from myths or historical events of the pre-colonial period. Such scenes no doubt delighted the public, who were avid for “exotic” cultures, and the artist may have created them to attract an audience for his other works.