On the first of May, 1625, Don Fadrique de Toledo recovered the important holding of Bahia de Todos los Santos in Brazil, which had been occupied by the Dutch the year before. The painting is divided into two parts and represents the moment after the battle. On the right, the Spanish general shows the losers a tapestry in which King Felipe IV is being crowned with the laurel wreath of victory by the Count Duke of Olivares and by Minerva. They are standing on the cadavers of Heresy, Wrath and Deceit, an allusion to the enemies of the Spanish Crown. On the left, Maíno opted for a depiction of the consequences of war: the victims' suffering. The woman surrounded by children might be a personification of Christian charity.

Painted for the Hall of Realms (“Salón de Reinos”) of the Buen Retiro Palace, it remained there until it was taken to Paris for the Napoleonic Museum. It was returned in 1815 and deposited at the Academy of San Fernando until 1827, when it entered the Museum.