Leopold Carl Müller (1834-1892) worked as a young man in the Vienna studio of his father, a lithographer. He then trained under Karl von Blaas, and was later appointed principal of the Academy in Vienna. In the winter of 1873 he embarked upon the first of nine extended tours of Egypt, the Balkans and Turkey, and subsequently dedicated himself to painting portraits and scenes of oriental life. He was acclaimed in England, and he followed the advice of Edward, Prince of Wales, in sending his work to England for exhibition. In 1882 he visited in person. He also exhibited in Vienna, Berlin and Dresden. He kept a studio in Cairo, and is regarded as the founder of the Austrian school of Orientalist painting. As can be seen in this work, he had an original approach to representing the particular light and colouring of the landscape and scenery of Egypt.

A desert landscape with a group of roughly built dwellings in the middle ground; in the distance, two pyramids can be seen.