Constantinos Volanakis

Volos is situated at the innermost point of the Pagasetic, at the foot of Mount Pelion and is the only outlet towards the sea from the region of Thessaly. The port and harbour of Volos have a historical importance in their position as a middleman between Greece, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, and would have been in the first of its periods of rapid growth when painted by Volanakis. According to local evidence, the modern town of Volos was established in 1841, and in 1858 the town had only eighty houses, most of which were located along the waterfront. After its incorporation into Greece from the Ottoman Empire in 1881, Volos underwent extremely rapid growth as merchants, businessmen, sailors, and craftsmen were drawn to the blossoming city's location near the scenic beaches of the Magnesia prefecture and Mount Pelion, as well as to its industries.

A smaller version with differences is illustrated in Stelios Lydakis, Volanakis, Athens, 1997, no. 104, p. 175.