"The Nueva Teresa Cubana (New Cuban Teresa) on the coast of Sitges represents a recreation of the real ship that bore this name. A shipbuilder from Arenys, Marià Jaurès, was commissioned to build the vessel in 1847 by the Sitges-born shipowner, Rafael Masó i Pascual, who had obtained his wealth in Cuba. The ship was built on the beach at Canet de Mar.
The 400-tonne ship was named after the shipowner’s wife, Teresa Ruiz de Espejo y Castellanos, and was launched on 31 July 1849. It was demolished in Barcelona in 1874, 16 years before the date of the painting.
This picture was painted by Rafael Monleón i Torres, an artist and engraver born in Valencia in 1843. He studied painting at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Sant Carles and from 1866, he worked as a sea pilot."