This view, probably from the heights of present-day Vaucluse on New South Head Road, looks down onto Vaucluse House, and across the Harbour to George’s Head and the North Shore. This expansive view of the Harbour was a popular one for colonial artists.

Vaucluse House had been purchased in 1827 by wealthy barrister and politician William Charles Wentworth. By the time this painting was made, he had extended it into one of the Harbour’s most picturesque villas. Wentworth himself purchased this painting in 1841, for £12 12s.