The grotto of the Capuchin convent was located on the high, steep coastal cliffs above Amalfi and collapsed at the end of the 19th century. Until then, it had been a favourite motif for various artists, especially for Franz Catel. He captured it in a large-format painting, now destroyed, and several oil studies. His watercolour differs from these paintings in its light, cool colours and the fine brushwork with which Catel depicted the slopes, houses and rocks. The darker entrance of the grotto frames and guides the eye and brightens up the wide view.