 Church's signature appears cut into the bark of the highlighted foreground tree at left.The play of light on his signature has been interpreted as the artist's statement of man's ability to tame nature—yet the tree appears in poor health compared to the vivid jungle surrounding it.Church's landscape conformed to the aesthetic principles of the "picturesque", as propounded by the British theorist William Gilpin, which began with a careful observation of nature enhanced by particular notions about composition and harmony.