After a period as fortification draughtsman at Sveaborg, where his superiors included Field Marshal Augustin Ehrensvärd, Elias Martin headed to Paris. On Alexander Roslin’s recommendation he was accepted into the French Academy of Painting and Sculpture in 1766. He studied under Joseph Vernet and painted dramatic landscapes, known as vedute, in his spirit. They often featured a low horizon and dramatic shifts of light and colour, as in this work.