An outstanding exponent of Impressionist plein-air painting, Italian artist Girolamo Nerli lived for a period in both Australia and New Zealand at the end of the 19th century, exerting an important influence on the art communities of both countries.

Nerli’s striking treatment of the subject here exploits the exoticism of the sun-drenched scene in dazzling harmonies of saturated colour. This historic work was included in the major retrospective exhibition of his painting at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery in 1988.

Based on its tropical setting and apparently Indian figures, Peter Entwistle assigns the painting to an expedition Nerli undertook with Dunedin artist John Perrett in August 1894, when the two visited Fiji for several weeks to paint the local scenery and hold tuition classes.