Lear arrived at the pass of Thermopylae during his visit to Greece in the summer of 1848. As was his habit, he made a number of pencil sketches which he later redrew in ink. He used these as the basis for a painting of 'The Mountains of Thermopylae' dated 1852 (Bristol City Art Gallery), one of a group of four landscapes painted according to the Pre-Raphaelite precepts of Holman Hunt. They were painted in translucent colours on a white ground. The view is taken looking southwards across the plain of the Spercheios; the deep gorge in the centre is the pass of Thermopylae itself. This smaller version was completed twenty years later according to the same principles.