This painting depicts the Palazzo della Regina Giovanna in the bay of Naples. The palace was built in the 14th century but was remodeled in both the 17th and 18th centuries. Painted around 1832, Cole depicts the palace in such a way that makes it look like the ruins of a once-thriving civilization; this depiction fit with a popular 18th and early 19th century philosophy which refers to man’s struggle against the overwhelming power of nature. By showing the palace in ruins and returning to nature, it connotes the futility of man’s efforts and how nature will reclaim what is man-made eventually. The sailboats in the harbor also indicate man’s encroachment upon nature, and the closest one has Cole’s initial painted on their sail. The painting was commissioned by Hickson Woolman Field, the father of Eleanor Kingsland Field Jay, who married John Jay II.