In 1793 Francois Solvyns was commissioned by Michael Hogan to paint the Netunno. Born in Antwerp, Solvyns lived in Calcutta from 1791 to 1803. 

The three-masted, square-rigged ship was purchased by Hogan in 1791. The ship had three decks, weighed 654 tons, and measured 104 feet by 34 feet. Registered as Il Netunno, it traded between India and Europe under Genoese colours to avoid the East India Company monopoly.

This is one of the few surviving paintings of an 18th-century convict ship. Reregistered as the Marquis Cornwallis under the British flag, Hogan had command of the ship on a voyage from Cork, Ireland, arriving in Port Jackson in 1796 with over 200 convicts onboard.