In 1837 – 1839, Oer travelled to Italy after studying at the Düsseldorf Academy. He lived and worked not only in Rome, but also in the south of the country and travelled to the island of Ischia, which was becoming increasingly popular for artists during this time. As he did in his oil sketch of Hadrian's Villa near Tivoli, Oer carved the exact date into the wet paint with a paintbrush handle: ‘Ischia 3 Aug.t 38’. In the hot days of August, Oer chose to paint on location in the evening, as the warm light and the moon in the sky of the carefully composed and finely coloured study show.