Aerial view of the Arelate theater (Arles). The drawing is in landscape format. It is organized within a frame drawn in ink. Traces of watercolor, graphite and inscriptions are visible in the margins. Inscriptions appear on the verso.
The scene depicts the theater just before a performance. People crowd into the cavea’s terraces to watch the performance. The façade’s three levels of arcaded galleries are clearly visible, as is the architectural decoration of the stage wall, or frons scaenae, made up of colorful columns. A pleasure garden, surrounded by a colonnaded portico, is located at the rear of the theater.