La Serpentara near Olevano, 1829. The area known as La Serpentara around the picturesque mountain village of Olevano, southeast of Rome, attracted many German landscapists studying in Italy during the early 1800s. In Preller's words, "Nowhere was the organic coherence in nature so clear as there." He inscribed the locale and date (2 June 1829) in the lower left corner of this drawing to indicate where and when he made it. His meticulous pen work leaves the lightest areas in outline only, so that the white of the paper helps record the fresh and bright atmosphere of the scene.