This piece is based on Peace Burial at Sea by JMW Turner. His friend, the painter David Wilkie died of typhoid on his return from the Holy Land in 1841. The Governor of Gibraltar refused to allow the body ashore and Wilkie was buried at sea. Turner painted this in his memory, placing a funeral carriage on the deck of the ship to stand for the public funeral Wilkie should have had. The quote is from Shakespeare's Henry VIII, Act 3, scene 2. "A peace above all earthly dignities, a still and quiet conscience."