From the auction notes: The White Villa was built in 1828–1831 as the summer residence of the British High Commissioner to the United States of the Ionian Islands, Frederick Adam (1784–1853), and his second wife. However, they had to leave the villa soon after, already in 1832, when Adam was sent off to serve in India. The villa was then only rarely used as a residence for the later British governors. In 1833, it was set up as an art school, while the park was opened to the public in 1834. After Corfu became part of the Kingdom of Greece in 1864, the villa was given as a gift to King George I of Greece (1845–1913) as a summer residence. He named it Mon Repos (French: my retreat). The Greek royal family used the villa as a residence until King Constantine II (1940–2023) and Queen Anne Marie (1946-) left the country and went into exile in 1967. The main building is today used as an archaeological museum. Kunsten Museum of Modern Art Aalborg owns a painting from Corfu painted by Læssøe dated 1876 (Inv. No. 147). The present painting is presumable from the same period.