Lear travelled to Mount Athos, the Holy Mountain of the Orthodox Church, in September 1856, to make sketches of the principal monasteries and the landscape. The small monastery of Philotheo is perched on steep wooded slopes at 1,000 feet above sea level. Lear has meticulously drawn the features of the buildings and added numerous inscriptions noting colours and the species of the different trees. He considered that his particular expertise lay in the accurate depiction of natural history and paid considerable attention to such details.