The Gap is a well-known sandstone cliff formation overlooking the ocean at South Head and a popular tourist destination. This depiction has been dated from an engraving by FC Terry published in Landscape Scenery: Illustrating Sydney, and Port Jackson, New South Wales in 1855. Terry was a watercolour painter and it is likely that the artist of this work was trying to create marketable paintings for tourists, based on his engravings.

By 1812, Governor Macquarie had opened the first road to South Head (today’s Old South Head Road), primarily for recreation. New South Head Road was constructed in the 1830s. The first ferry service began in 1854.