The date of the painting is unknown but it appears be from the seventeenth century. It may have descended through the Gunman family, who owned several of the sea pieces in the collection, or possibly the Delaval family, which also had strong naval credentials. Although the identification of the subject as the storming of the citadel at Algiers, on the north coast of Africa, would appear to be correct, the precise occasion is uncertain. It may relate to the failed siege in 1541 by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, although the painting itself is later – possibly mid- to late seventeenth century.