On the back of the canvas Melbye has written: "The Maiden Cliff. Norway. F. G. Sigfried Melbye N. York 1864.

Fritz Melbye was, like his two older brothers, Anton and Vilhelm Melbye, a maritime painter with a heavy case of the travel bug. He spent most of his life abroad, with a preference for exotic locations. Thus, in 1849, he settled on the island of Saint Thomas in the Caribbean, where he among other things got to know the young Camille Pissarro and became his teacher. The teacher-student relationship developed into a close friendship between the two, and they embarked on a long journey together to Venezuela in 1852. For a time, Melbye stayed in New York and later travelled to China, where he died in Shanghai. Fritz Melbye's motifs tell the story of the other parts of the world he managed to visit, including North Cape, Newfoundland, Gibraltar, Cuba and Santo Domingo.

Fritz Melbye's seascapes are influenced by his brother and teacher Anton Melbye's romantic staging with dramatic lighting effects and atmospheric weather, but to a large extent, Fritz Melbye’s work also includes an aspect of a more topographical and recording approach, as can be seen in the present painting.