Comprising a rocky cove with fishermen hauling nets, and extensive coastline beyond; and A narrow inlet with shepherds and their flock crossing a bridge, a port in the distance

Henri-Joseph and his father Louis-Nicolas (d. 1794) are best known as miniature painters and their finely detailed work is found on many gold boxes for his patron, the Duc de Choiseul. In 1773 the elder Blarenberghe secured a position as painter to the Ministry of Marine and painted a series of views of the port of Brest in conjunction with his son, Henri-Joseph. Both Henri-Joseph and Henri-Desiré (d. 1812), sons of Louis-Nicolas van Blarenberghe, worked in a style almost indistinguishable from his own.