The painting depicts the launch ceremony of the ship Partenope, a Bourbon war ship armed with sixty-four cannons. It was painted by Jacob Philipp Hackert, a painter renowned throughout Europe, who took on the role of Principal Court Painter. King Ferdinand IV of Bourbon entrusted him with the task of producing paintings in various formats depicting the landscapes he most cherished, as well as with providing an artistic education for the Bourbon princes and princesses.