 In his time, the painting hung in Drottningholm Palace.The Epistle was planned as the grand finale to Bellman's planned initial collection of 25 Epistles, the grandiose assembly of figures from classical mythology contrasting with the reality of a boat crossing.The song has been recorded by Sven-Bertil Taube and Mikael Samuelsson ("Sjunger Fredmans Epistlar", Polydor, 1990) among others.