The terrace of St Lawrence's Church, Macao, the Praya Grande beyond

The viewpoint, and the inclusion of clergy on the terrace, compares with La Perouse's artist, Duché de Vancy's engraved view of Macao which illustrated the Voyage de La Pérouse autour du monde published in 1798 (plate 40, Vue de Macao en Chine). La Perouse, who crossed the Pacific to Macao after his survey of the western American coastline, set up his observatory at the Franciscan convent. De Vancy's view(s) count as amongst the earliest western views of the Portuguese enclave, dating from the expedition's arrival in Macao in January 1787.

The expedition and all its members, including de Vancy, was lost without trace in 1788, some time after its last sighting by the British First Fleet in Botany Bay in January, but La Perouse had sent back logs, charts and letters (including de Vancy's artwork) from Petrapavlovsk in the autumn of 1787, these presumably including the Macao view from which the engraving would be taken.