Mont (or Montagne) Sainte-Victoire is a limestone mountain ridge in southern France, extending over 18 km (11 mi) between the "départements" of Bouches-du-Rhône and Var. Its highest point is the Pic des Mouches at 1,011 metres (3,317 ft). Originally called Montagne de la Victoire, the mountain became known by Christians in the Middle Ages as Sainte-Venture; it was not until the 17th century that the mountain gained its current name. The 19-metre (62-ft) high cross, Croix de Provence, (see picture) is a notable feature of the mountain, standing out from the ridge more than the Pic des Mouches and overlooking Aix-en-Provence.

On 14 April 1878, six months after the opening of the railway line from Aix to Marseille, Paul Cézanne (1839-1906) wrote to his friend Émile Zola praising the beauty of Mont Sainte-Victoire, that he had just seen from the train while passing through the railway bridge at Arc River Valley.

Mont Sainte-Victoire then became one of Cézanne’s most repeated and varied themes, in total amounting to about thirty paintings and watercolours. He changed something about the scene each time -- the angle, the lighting, the specific details of the composition, or the mood he was trying to evoke. Cézanne used three primary vantage points for these paintings: near his brother’s property in Bellevue, near Bibemus quarry, and in Les Lauves. His scenes generally included Mont Sainte-Victoire itself, and the surrounding valley and plains from which the mountain rises.

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