This painting shows a bright red boat on rough seas, upon which four figures can be distinguished. This image may be connected to one of Odilon Redon's favourite themes which he reworked several times: the three female saints, Mary Magdalene, Mary Salome, and Mary Jacobi, driven out of Palestine with Saint Lazarus in a boat with no sail, oars, or rudder, miraculously managing to cross the Mediterranean and put ashore at the mouth of the Rhône. The flimsy-looking craft in this painting appears to be in dire straits, at the mercy of the waves. This image belongs to the legacy of the Romantics, who were particularly fond of scenes of this kind.

The sense of solitude and abandonment emanating from the painting reflects the torment that haunted the artist. The fact that it would remain on the wall of his studio on Avenue de Wagram in Paris until the end of his days attests the personal essence of this piece and shows the attachment the artist had for this painting. The vigorous brushwork is combined here with a palette exploring a wide colour range. The sun is depicted in tones bursting with intensity, the fiery red colour of the boat immediately drawing the eye to the centre of the canvas. The detail has been completely erased: all that remains of the subject is a synthesis of forms and colours which moves away from specifics to reach for the universal.