Glaciers fascinated Turner and his contemporaries. These vast rivers of ice seemed beyond understanding. They inspired the emotions of awe and terror which were associated with the artistic ideal of the sublime in nature. Here Turner depicts the Brenva Glacier, part of the Mont Blanc mountain range. The glacier emerges as a mass of blue ice from the summits at top left, before curving round into the Aosta valley to the right. The pinnacle of the Aiguille de la Brenva is flushed with rosy morning light. Turner would have walked some distance to reach this ‘bird’s eye’ viewpoint, high above the mountain mist.