In 1782, Hackert set out from Rome, where he had lived since 1768, for southern Italy, in order to meet with King Ferdinand IV in Naples on the recommendation of the Russian envoy Count Rasumowksi. This drawing must date to that journey, after Hackert had visited the nearby sites of Sorrento and Salerno.
This view shows a monastery or fortress in the valley of La Cava near Vietri del Mare. Hackert made another version in the same technique from an almost identical point of view. It must have been drawn in sequence with this sheet and was inscribed, dated and signed by the artist (Fig.1).