The Belgian painter Emile Hoeterickx was educated at the Brussels Academy. His oeuvre includes marines, landscapes, cityscapes, genre scenes and a combination of these. Depicted here is the Willebroeksevaart, which used to run past the garden and the castle Laeken (Brussels) and the domain 'Drie Fonteinen', a castle, park and village that is currently in Vilvoorde. Evidently there was a lot of pleasure craft on this water and it was a popular outing for the inhabitants of Brussels in the 19th century.