The view has been identified as on the coast near Naples. If so the building on the left is intended as the 'Tomb of Virgil' and on the right at the horizon is the island of Capri. Joseph Farington observed that: 'The Scene represented (I understood) somewhere near Naples'. (Diary, 15 December 1808). An unknown 19th century writer later referred to it as a 'Scene on the Coast of Baia' (WGC p. 196). Baiae, north of Naples, was renowned in the 18th century for the profusion of its Roman remains. Having had villas belonging to Julius Caesar, Augustus, Pliny, Cicero and Pompey, as well as featuring in Homer's Cimmerians and Virgil's Aeneid, Baiae and its environs drew much attention from English Grand Tourists and provided Wilson with subjects for several of his paintings. However, this scene is more likely to be intended as a generalised evocation rather than a precise topographical view. Nevertheless the artist's favourite theme, Roman glory in decay contrasted with Arcadian perfection, is well served by the setting.