Cleves (Kleve in German, Kleef in Dutch) was a Duchy just south of the Dutch border, whose ownership was disputed after the death of the local Ducal line in 1609. When it passed to the Elector of Bandenberg, he chose as its governor in 1647 the famous Dutch soldier and great-nephew of William the Silent, John Maurice, Prince of Nassau-Siegen (1604-79). John Maurice created the famous Baroque gardens around the town of Cleves, which can still be seen today and which appear in this group of five huge canvases (CW 270-4, 400101, 406170 and 406788-90). These also probably belonged to him: the inventory of his possessions at the Prinsenhof in Cleves in 1677 lists 'sechs grosse schildereyen, represententiren den schonen prospect von der Clevischen situation' ('six large paintings representing the beautiful prospect of the location of Cleves'). These works (or at least the five of them now surviving) next appear in the 1688 inventory of the possessions of James II.

These paintings must have been created before 1677 when they appear in the inventory (mentioned above) and after 1666, when the Amphitheatre (which appears in two of them) was built. The Prinsenhof itself was built in 1671 by Pieter Post; it seems likely that these paintings were commissioned at that time as part of its interior decorations. The five canvases are of a standard height (c. 220 cm), with four (including this one) of standard width (c. 335 cm) and one narrower (CW 271, 406788, which is 194 cm wide).

This view of the medieval town of Cleves is taken from the road to Nijmegen to the west, with the extreme western end of the 'Tiergarten', a hill with avenues of trees called the 'Sternberg', visible to the left. The town lies on a hill along the banks of the Rhine, which runs across the background. From this vantage point its skyline is spread out allowing the landmarks to be clearly seen, left to right they include the Schwanenburg Castle and the Stiftskirche.