Thorvaldsens Museum, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of Martinus Rørbye no. 194.

Exhibited: Charlottenborg 1842 no. 40. Disposed of by lottery in Kunstforeningen (the Art Asociation) in 1842.

During his Grand Tour abroad from 1834 to 1837, Rørbye stayed on the Italian island of Procida, which is situated off Naples between Cap Miseno and the island of Ischia, from 20 June to 3 July 1835. In his travel journal he writes on the day he arrives to the island (in Danish): “Today I got a good room for myself with a balcony and a lovely view of the sea. It seems that I am with honest people.”

Three paintings from the same balcony from Procida are known, and this painting is one of them - the only one with figures. The motif is probably from the balcony in front of his room, mentioned in the above quotation from his travel journal.

The two other paintings from the same balcony are today both in museum collections. The one Rørbye executed in 1835 is at The National Gallery in Stockholm (no. 106 in the Catalogue Raisonné), this one bought at Bruun Rasmussen auction 870, 2017 no. 41 for 1 mill DKK. The one he executed in 1840 is at ARoS, Aarhus Kunstmuseum (no. 193 in the Catalogue Raisonné). Both of these paintings are without figures.

The motif is also known from a painting by Thomas Fearnley, who was on Procida three years earlier in 1832. He has depicted the same loggia with terracotta flower pots in the corner and the view of the sea, but without Rørbye's picturesque details such as the three figures, the jar balancing on the balcony wall towards the sea, bunches of garlic, lemons, etc.

Rørbye made a study of the “The woman with the distaff” dated 1840 (no. 19“ in the Catalogue Raisonné) with the title ”A spinning woman from Subiaco).