The Bay of Naples is said to be depicted with the British fleet at anchor on 1 August 1718 under the command of Sir George Byng. This scene is set a few days before the Battle of Passaro, off the south east corner of Sicily, in 1718 in which the Spanish fleet was destroyed by Byng on behalf of the Quadruple Alliance (Austria, Britain, France and the Netherlands). Byng was in the ship called the Barfleur and the ships of his two junior officers are flying Union flags, the custom at that station at the time. There is another version of this painting at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, which is very close in size to the Wellcome Library version and is also painted on copper. Another similar painting on copper was sold at Christie's London on 5 July 2011, lot 51 (with companion painting, lot 50).