Throughout the nineteenth century, as a result of the alliance created by Lord Nelson during the Napoleonic Wars, the Bay of Naples was frequented by the British Royal Navy, as shown by the English Frigate on the righthand side of the painting. 

In the foreground, a royal Felucca is being rowed out across the bay, followed by two other vessels flying Maltese flags.

 In the Summer of 1799, Nelson assisted with reinstating King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies to power, having helped him evacuate Naples in December 1978. Ferdinand ruled until his death in 1825- Serres died in December of that same year. Serres produced this work in 1824, so it is likely that Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies is the Royal member aboard the vessel. 

One year prior, Serres produced a work of a very similar composition from the same view-point. An English Frigate is shown in the same section of the painting, however in Serres’ 1823 work it is departing from the port. It is a more crowded scene, and Mount Vesuvius appears to be erupting in the background, rather than just smoking. In both paintings, Certosa di San Martino is a prominent landmark, on the hilltop. However, by 1824 it seems to have acquired an additional building to its complex. Serres’ treatment of the two coastal defenses, Castel dell’Ovo and Castal Nuovo varies between the two works, appearing more simplified in the latter work. Likewise, the buildings lining the bay appear significantly more ‘built-up’ in the earlier work. The comparison of these two paintings demonstrates how an artist’s focus can develop throughout their career, producing a different stylistic interpretation of the same landscape and a shift in detail and emphasis on certain features.