The afternoon shadows are beginning to lengthen in this beautiful wintry scene painted looking towards Mont Blanc from near Megève. The deep path leading to the chalets would suggest a large amount of fresh snow has recently fallen. By using passages of violet on the wooden sides of the chalets’ walls and the small leafless tree in the foreground, Abrate elegantly conveyed the last rays of the sun. Abrate lived for many years in nearby Sallanches and in depicting what was effectively his ‘backyard’ here, he revealed a more lyrical side to his work. It reminds us that although designated a peintre-alpiniste, Abrate was first and foremost an artist.