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Born in Elberfeld in 1837, Hans von Marées (1837–1887), one of the so-called 'Deutschrömer', is represented in the museum's collection by 24 paintings, several drawings and a sketchbook. The designs for Naples are a major work. The Naples Zoological Station was founded in 1870. In 1873, together with Adolf von Hildebrand (1847–1921), Marées was commissioned by the German marine biologist Anton Dohrn (1840–1909) to decorate the main hall of the newly founded zoological station with frescoes. The artistic design was for a cycle of five scenes. All the scenes were coherent in form and colour. The general themes are the work of the fishermen and the social life of the people of the Gulf of Naples.

Before Marées painted the frescoes directly onto the wet plaster, he made oil sketches. Some of these were large and were used to test the constellation of figures. The group portrait shown here is a detail from the fresco 'Pergola', the climax of the cycle of paintings with portraits of von Hildebrand, who was involved in the decoration, and Charles Grant, the intellectual mentor of the project. It is also a self-portrait of the painter. As a single painting, it conveys the artistic and literary community Marées dreamed of all his life.