The view of the ‘Ancient Port’ or ancient Roman port in the Tragara area is a recurring subject among the panoramas of Capri in Diefenbach’s paintings; a large painting (307 x 410 cm) of the ‘Ancient Port’, also dated ‘1906’, is preserved in the Certosa di San Giacomo in Capri.

Our painting portrays a narrow bay in a nocturnal atmosphere, enclosed on both sides by two steep cliffs, whereas in the background emerge a glimpse of the rocky spur of the ‘Pizzolungo’, often depicted by the painter, along with a part of the Monacone rock.

The moonlight illuminates the cliff on the left, while a seagull - symbolizing freedom and a deep connection with nature - takes flight in the center of the bay. “Silence reigns supreme in a scene of indefinite nostalgia” (R. De Martino, ‘Diefenbach e Capri’, Grimaldi editori 2013).

The reference to Boecklin’s famous painting The Isle of the Dead is evident, but while the soul enters the dark island of the first work, here Diefenbach seems to want to make it emerge from the shadows.

Diefenbach's vision in this work is intimate, he does not aim to merely depict nature or the objective scene, which he does not reproduce with strict accuracy, but as did the symbolist painters, he aims to guide the viewer toward introspection, thus the bay symbolizes the soul, and the light in the background, along with the soaring seagull, represent hope and the yearning for freedom.

The island of Capri, which was Diefenbach’s permanent home in the last years of his life, became an inexhaustible source of inspiration for him. In our canvas the painter expresses his art, “always based on the life of feelings and on the relationship between man and nature, individual solitude and communion with the universe.”