The central focus of this atmospheric work is the monumental and heroic statue of the explorers Robert O'Hara Burke and William John Wills by Charles Summers (1825–1878). The sculpture was designed and cast at Summers' studio in Collins Street, and was the largest casting ever undertaken in Australia at the time.
A founding member of the Australian Artists' Association, Ugo Catani first exhibited this painting at the association's winter exhibition of 1887.