In 1826, Kopisch persuaded his landlord and his painter friend Ernst Fries on the isle of Capri to explore a grotto with him, which was said to be inhabited by the devil. His report on the adventure laid the foundations for the development of the Blue Grotto as a tourist attraction. The picture was painted a decade later and accurately depicts the circumstances of the expedition: the darkness is only slightly illuminated by the pitch fire that the explorers had placed in a floating tub. Kopisch has captured the subject of the picture with a brush at the lower edge: ‘Die Entdeckung der blauen Grotte auf der Insel Capri 1826’ (The discovery of the blue grotto on the isle of Capri in 1826.)