While Carlos de Haes was the first in Spain to begin plein air painting, he didn't always paint his landscapes that way. The present work is an example of a studio painting based on sketches made directly on the beach at Saint Jean de Luz. The center of the composition is an image of a destroyed ship that has run aground on the beach, with the immensity of the sea behind it. Images of grounded or drifting boats were a central part of Haes' subject matter during the period of his life that he lived away from his family.