This horizontal watercolor centers on a distant view of a church, San Francesco del Deserto, across a narrow body of water on the outskirts of Venice. This peaceful scene appears to take place in the early evening before the sun has fully faded and it hovers near the horizon to the right of the church. In the foreground loose brownish-gray brush strokes represent land upon which white and light-blue water gently laps. A few blue topped white piles line the bank of the water at the left.  In the upper center of the painting, the church building  spreads out on a sand-colored island outlined with green trees of varying heights rising above a darkening blue sky. The beige horizontal church has a pointed, cylindrical-shaped, narrow tower arising on the left of the main structure, and to the  immediate right, a much lower triangular shaped elevation. The remainder of the church, extending horizontally toward the right, is relatively low. The tranquil scene is completed by the church, sunlight and trees being reflected in the water in the center of the painting. In the lower left hand corner the artist has written in black ink, “Souvenir of/ San Francisco Deserto/ and of your friend Ralph Curtis/ 86”.