Olinda, the capital of the district of Penambuco, and its ruined 16th century cathedral ("the 'Groote kerk' of Dutch contemporary maps and views", de Sousa-Leão, loc. cit.) seemed to have held a particular fascination for Frans Post, as a result of which he depicted them on at least eighteen occasions.

This is perhaps not so surprising in light of the fact that Olinda and Recife were scenes of major Dutch victories against the Portuguese armies in 1630; an event that was at the time widely reported in pamphlets and prints.

In 1632 the Dutch burned Olinda as a result of deciding to transfer the administrative control of Brazil to Recife. Thus, by the time Frans Post arrived in Brazil in January 1637, the cathedral had long been derelict.

In a poem of 1772, entitled 't Verzuimd Brasil (Lost Brazil), Onno Zwier van Haren laments this act of destruction: "...vergeefs heeft [Pieter] Post Olinda's kerken verwoest voor ons nieuwe werken..." (to no avail has Post destroyed Olinda's churches for our new works). Larsen (op. cit., p. 35) sees this poem as further evidence of the apparent dismantling of Portuguese churches and houses in order to use the materials for the construction of the new colonial capital Mauritsstad.