According to the catalogue for the major Hill exhibition in Malmö in 1976, "Gloria" is number two in a series of at least six drawings, all variations on a motif from the port of Bordeaux, "Le Port de Bordeaux," painted by the Frenchman Edouard Manet in 1871. Carl Fredrik Hill may very well have seen Manet's painting in person and, with his excellent visual memory, recreated his own version of it many years later. "Le Port de Bordeaux," with its bustling scenes of everyday life and its multitude of masts, ship hulls, and background buildings, is highly evocative and was widely disseminated in Hill's time through various prints and reproductions, which may have reached him in that way.

In comparison to Manet's work, the motif in Hill's drawing is strongly reduced. The forest of masts has been replaced by a clear sea horizon, and all focus is directed towards the ship Gloria (Latin for "Glory"), whose name is prominently inscribed both on the stern and on the starboard side.