Like Charles Brooking or Willem van de Velde, American Fitz Henry Lane (1804-1865) was a painter of nautical themes. His journey to painting was unhappy: at the age of two, he ingested poison seeds in the garden and due to the late intervention of a doctor, his lower limbs were paralyzed. In painting, he found a hobby and an escape from this experience. He developed his talent with the Boston lithographer William S Pendleton. In Boston, Lane settled in a house overlooking the Boston harbour. Lane died in 1865 at home in the presence of his greatest friend, Joseph Stevens.