The painting was performed in Italy among seven works painted in 1841.
In all likelihood, the strait depicted here is the one between the Islands of Capri and Ischia. It is possible that it was this painting that under the title "The Island of Ischia at Sunset" was sent by the artist from Rome in April 1842 to participate in the academic exhibition. At the beginning of the 1840s Aivazovsky opens the so-called rose period in his work. The combination of pink sunset or morning light with a calm sea was certainly prompted by the Italian nature. However, Aivazovsky employed this spectacular pictural device that created the opportunity to capture aerial haze and finest black and white transitions in the image of the sky, reflections of light on the surface of the water, and later, in the images of the Crimean views.

Aivazovskiy Ivan

Aivazovsky (Haivazovsky), Hovhannes (Ivan Konstantinovich)

1817, Theodosia - 1900, Theodosia
Painter, graphic artist. Studied at the Imperial Academy of Arts (1833-1838). Fellow of the Imperial Academy of Arts in the Crimea and Italy (1838-1844). Academician (1844), professor (1847), honorary member of the Imperial Academy of Arts (1887). Member of the Accademia di San Luca in Rome (1840) and the academies of Paris (1843), Amsterdam (1845), Florence (1875) and Stuttgart (1879). Contributed to around 120 exhibitions (from 1835). Contributed to the exhibitions of the Imperial Academy of Arts (1835-1900), Paris Salon (1843, 1879), Society of Exhibitions of Works of An (1876-1883), Moscow Society of Lovers of the Arts (1881), Pan-Russian Exhibitions in Moscow (1882) and Nizhny Novgorod (1896), International Exhibitions in Philadelphia (1876), Munich (1879) and Berlin (1886) and the World Exhibitions in Paris (1858, 1878), London (1863) and Chicago (1893). Awarded the Legion d'honneur (1857). Lived and worked in Theodosia, where he founded the General Art Studios (1865) and the Theodosia Picture Gallery (1880).