Dutch Ships in Distress off a Rocky Coast by Ludolph Backhuysen, 1667

National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

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This highly dramatic scene of Dutch ships facing seemingly eminent destruction by the raging sea is a prominent example of Backhuysen’s abilities to theatrically portray the forces of nature. Despite the great danger the sailors continue a heroic battle for survival. The ship in the centre seems to be already in control. Her sails are reefed and she steers leeward from the murderous rocks. The ship at the right, however, is still drifting towards the coast with her masts crippled. Uncontrolled she is on a collision course to the ship in the center making the latter’s escape far from certain.

A contemporary observer could read morale from this painting. Man’s pride symbolized here as mighty sea-going ships can still be humbled by the elemental forces of nature or, in the eyes of a Calvinist Dutchman, the will of the almighty God.

This painting was commissioned in 1667 and today is on display in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.

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The Dutch burn English ships during the expedition to Chatham (Raid on Medway, 1667)

(De Hollanders steken Engelse schepen in brand tijdens de tocht naar Chatham 20 juni 1667)

by Jan van Leyden, 1669

Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

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The Raid on Chatham is undoubtedly one of the most impressive victories in Dutch history. The success of this daring expedition is much owed to Grand Pensionary of the Republic Johan de Witt.  He envisioned an attack on the British soil that would provoke a rebellion against the English king; and the planning of the operation started immediately after the great victory of the Four Days’ Battle in 1666.  However, the details of the original plan were soon become known to the English and the operation was cancelled. But the later events of the Second Anglo-Dutch War, such as St. James’ Day Fight and the Holmes Bonfire (1666) were unfortunate for the Dutch and a success was desperately needed in 1667. The plan of the attack was revived and Cornelis de Witt, brother of the Grand Pesionary, was assigned to the fleet as a government delegate. In June 1667 the Dutch fleet commanded by De Ruyter, but effectively guided by Cornelis de Witt entered the Thames.

The first Dutch ships commanded by Willem van Ghent appeared at the mouth of the Thames on June 17. At that moment Dutch intensions were unclear to the English, who were more concerned of an attack on London. But the Dutch primary target were English ships anchored upstream the Medway river. The attack began with an assault on the Sheerness Castle protecting the mouth of the Medway. After a bombardment delivered by the Vreede the garrison fled, and a Dutch landing party captured the unfinished fort. The Dutch marines were strictly forbidden to plunder to shame the Holmes’ outrages on Teschelling. Despite the orders Dutch seamen plundered anyway, and their commander Jan van Brakel was relieved of his command.

Once the fort was captured the Dutch reconnoitered the way upstream and discovered that English had sunk seven ships across the river to block the passage. A small opening was found in the barrier and after some of the sunken ships had been dragged away, the Dutch frigates passed on the rising tide.

Another obstacle was a formidable chain stretched across the river one mile further on near Gillingham. It was protected by artillery positions on the river banks and warships anchored in front of it. The Dutch attacked the chain on the morning of June 22. One of the protecting warships, the Unity (ex Dutch Eendracht) was bordered and captured by Jan van Brakel who was anxious to redeem himself. The Dutch fire ships attacked the English Matthias and Carolus V, which both caught fire and blew up. Later the mighty Royal Charles was taken after putting little resistance. This ship, originally Naseby 80-gun First Rate, renamed Royal Charles after the Restoration, had served as flagship for such famous admirals as Blake, Monck and Duke of York. Its capture was the ultimate humiliation for the English fleet.

The tide began to fall and the Dutch could not proceed any further that day. Still there were three more ships up the river, Royal James, Loyal London and Royal Oak. The English realized that the only way to prevent their capture was to sink them and so they were scuttled. Next day De Ruyter took command of the attack personally. The sunken ships were reached by the fire ships and set on fire.

“The destruction of these three stately and glorious ships of ours was the most dismal spectacle my eyes ever beheld,”
wrote Edward Gregory, Clerk of the Cheque of Chatham Dockyard.

The next day the Dutch finally withdrew. The tide was falling and the ships regularly ran aground. Royal Charles and Unity were taken along as prizes. Despite the obvious success not all objectives were accomplished.  For one, Johan de Witt was not satisfied pointing out that the actions of the fleet were insufficiently aggressive and not accepting arguments of shallow water and adverse wind. Chatham Dockyard was not burnt and had it been destroyed it would have taken a generation to rebuild. Furthermore the political aim was not reached as well. Despite disastrous events such as plague, the Great Fire of London 1666 and then the raid itself, no rebellion ensued.

There are many painting depicting the events of the Raid on Chatham. The impressive work of Jan van Leyden painted in 1667 – 1669 shows the attack of June 20th with Dutch troops storming the Sheerness Castle and burning English ships.

The storming of Sheerness Castle is depicted in detail in this engraving by Willem Schellinks.

Chatham Expedition  and the Capture of the Sheppey Island, 1667

(Tocht naar Chatham en de verovering van het eiland Sheppey, 1667)

by Willem Schellinks

Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

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The panoramic painting by Willem Schellinks displays the further events of the Raid. In the middle of the painting one can see scuttled English ships with their masts protruding above water. The Dutch vanguard is already past the obstacle and three more English ships are on fire before Upnor Castle.

The burning of the English fleet near Chatham, June 1667, during the second Anglo-Dutch war

By Willem Schellinks

Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

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The moment of triumph, the capture of the Royal James is shown on this work by Peter van den Velde. The unrigged Royal Charles in the center still bearing the Flag of the Red but a Dutch tricolor is already hoisted on the masthead. The burning fire ships are shown grappled with the Matthias and the Carolus V already in flames.

The Dutch burn down the English fleet before Chatham June 20 1667

(Het verbranden van de Engelse vloot voor Chatham)

By Peter van de Velde

Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

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The captured Royal Charles was escorted to the Netherlands by Jan van Brakel. Its arrival at the Goereese Gat is painted by Jeronimus van Diest for Cornelis de Witt. On the poop the Dutch tricolor is flying while the English red flag is hoisted upside down in humiliation.

Arrival of the English Flagship Royal Charles

(Het opbrengen van het Engelse admiraalschip de Royal Charles)

By Jeronymus van Diest (II)

Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

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Finally, a painting by workshop of Jan de Baen honours Cornelis de Witt posing as triumphant with the bird’s-eye view of the Medway River dotted with Dutch ships and burning English vessels. This is a replica of the original paining which was destroyed by an angry mob in 1672, the year of Dutch disasters, blamed largely on de Witt brothers, who then were also killed by their angry compatriots.

The Glorification of Cornelis de Witt, with the Raid on Chatham in the Background, from the workshop of Jan de Baen, replica of the original 1667 painting

Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

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In the early 1650s the damage caused by French and Barbary Coast pirates to Dutch Levant trade forced the Republic of Seven United Provinces to send an expedition commanded by Admiral Johan van Galen to the Mediterranean. With the start of the First Anglo-Dutch War the Dutch squadron had to face yet another enemy – the English ships under Captain Henry Appleton and Captain Richard Badiley.
In the first months of 1653 Dutch and English squadrons have been chasing each other in a cat and mouse game in the vicinity of the island of Elba. A series of actions resulted in a capture of an English frigate Phoenix by the Dutch. The ship was placed under the command of a young officer Cornelis Tromp, the son of the glorious Dutch Admiral Maerten Tromp.

In March 1653 the Dutch have finally succeeded in trapping Captain Appleton and his 6 ships in the port of Livorno (Leghorn) in Italy. Livorno was a neutral territory under the Grand Duke of Tuscany. On one night the English undertook a successful sortie and recaptured the Phoenix. Cornelis Tromp was surprised in his sleep but managed to escape by jumping overboard. Later he was fished out of the water by a merchantman.

This action meant a violation of the port’s neutrality by the English. Van Galen issued a demand for the English ships to leave. By this point an English squadron commanded by Richard Badiley has arrived to join forces with the trapped ships. The Dutch sailed out to face the new threat on a favorable wind. The blockaded squadron attempted to use the chance to escape and left the port. The Dutch however abandoned their previous target and instead attacked the escaping ships. All but one of Appletons ships were either destroyed or captured and only Mary could outrun the Dutch and rejoin Badiley. The wind prevented the latter from coming to Appletons rescue. At the end Badiley found himself outnumbered (8 + Mary vs. 16 Dutch) and was forced to retreat. Admiral Van Galen was mortally wounded in the action and died on March 23.

The Battle of Livorno (Leghorn) by Johannes Lingelbach, 1660

Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

These three paintings on display in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam depict the battle from three different perspectives. The first one painted by Johannes Lingelbach allows us to see the event through the eyes of a witness from the port. The monument on the left bears an inscription in Italian: Bataglia secuita tra li vaseli olandesi e inglesi il di 14 Marzo 1653 (The battle that took place on March 14th 1653 between Dutch and English ships). At the lower right of the painting one can see a note which was obviously added later that describes the events on the painting.

The Battle of Livorno (De zeeslag bij Livorno 14 maart 1653), Reinier Nooms

Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

Amsterdam chamber for Levant trade ordered this painting from Reinier Nooms to commemorate the event that allowed the Dutch to take control over the Mediterranean. The heading of the note at the lower left reads “Sea battle off Livorno between the Dutch and English fleets under the direction of the Commanders Jan van Galen and Sir Appleton”. The painting shows us the climax of the battle: in the center we can see the boarding of the English flagship Leopard by Zon and Julius Caesar. Further to the right one can see the burning Sampson and Tromps’ Halve Maan.

Slag bij Livorno (Battle of Leghorn), Willem Van de Velde the Elder

Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

The latter two ships form the centerpiece of the next painting by Willem van de Velde the Elder. The Halve Maan is firing her guns at the Sampson, which has already been set on fire by a fire ship. In the background one can see the recaptured Phoenix, which is impossible since she was taken to Naples and was not present at the battle.

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Unsuccessful English attack on the VOC fleet at Bergen, 12 August 1665, by Willem van de Velde the Elder, 1669

(De mislukte aanslag van de Engelsen op de retourvloot in de haven van Bergen)

Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

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In July 1665 Lord Sandwich, commander of the English fleet, took his ships to the sea hoping to exploit the recent victory over the Dutch at Lowestoft. His two targets were de Ruyter’s squadron bound home from West Africa and the Americas, and a rich VOC convoy, which arrived twice a year from East Indies laden with spice, gems and luxury goods.

The English were having their usual problems with victualling, and a long cruising along the coast of Holland was unattractive. Sandwich took his fleet to the north to Denmark-ruled Norway where he expected the VOC convoy to be coming on the route around Scotland on its way home. Denmark was friendly to the Dutch and was obliged to maintain neutrality. The English envoy in Copenhagen, however, reported that King Frederik III of Denmark was about to break his alignment to the Dutch, and was only waiting for a rich Dutch convoy to arrive to one of his ports. The profits from the captured cargo would be shared with the English. At that time a single VOC Indiamen could be worth of £250000, which was a quarter of the English crown annual revenues. The VOC convoy arrived in 1665 to Bergen consisted of 60 ships carrying cargo worth of over 11 million guilders.

Sandwich decided to split his forces and sent 30 of his ships under Sir Thomas Teddiman to attack Bergen. At that time the new orders from the Danish king had not yet arrived, and when the English attacked on August 2nd (Old Style) 1665 they were met with a determined resistance put up by the Dutch Admiral Pieter de Bitter. The Danish commander Claus von Ahlefeldt did not only fail to cooperate with the attackers, instead, the Danish coastal batteries fired upon the English fleet. The attack failed and Teddiman was forced to retreat. The Dutch remained blockaded in the port.

On August 19th a relief force commanded by de Ruyter had arrived. The bad weather made the immediate escape impossible and only on August 30th had the Dutch left the port. Their ships were soon scattered by a gale on the Dogger Bank. Some of them had returned home safely but on September 3rd Sandwich captured total of 27 prizes, including two rich Indiamen. He allowed his unpaid crews to loot them while retaining the lion share of the booty to himself and his captains.

Willem van de Velde was present at the battle of Bergen and recorded it in his sketches. On this pen painting Dutch Indiamen are firing back at the English fleet with Bergenhus fortress in background on the right. On the right one can see the Catharina, one of the Indiamen, repairing the damage to her hull below the waterline. Her captain, Ruth Maximilianesz, is believed to be the commissioner of this painting.

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Shipping on the IJ by Amsterdam, by Ludolf Bakhiuzen

(Scheepwart op het IJ bij Amsterdam)

Emden, Ostfriesisches Landesmuseum Emden

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A study for this etching is located in the British Museum, London. From left to right are shown a flute, a ketch, a vessel of an unknown type, a rowboat, a man-of-war, and a smalschip.

Shipping on the Maas by Rotterdam, by Ludolf Bakhiuzen, 1701

(Scheepwart op de Maas bij Rotterdam)

Emden, Ostfriesisches Landesmuseum Emden

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On a beam in the water in the lower left corner there is a date, 1701, written mirrored. The leeboard of a yacht in the right is also inscribed, “LB”.
From left to right we see a boom rigged barge, an English yacht, an English frigate and a boeier yacht.

Both drawings bear a signature:

L. Bakhuizen fec: et exc: cum Privil: ordin Holland: et West Frisiae.

Sources: #zlschpn#

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Boats in a harbour and a yacht sailing away, also known as Harbour mole of Texel by Willem van de Velde the Younger, 1673

Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam

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This painting by Willem van de Velde the Younger shows several boats at a harbor mole and a wijdschip with a headsail and a topsail in the foreground. On board of the latter there is group of people lively interacting with each other. Behind this boat there is another wijdschip with sails trimmed. The boats, masts, yards, sails and rigging form a complex composition in the left part of the painting. A careful observer can find a humorous detail: a freshly washed shirt left to dry on a rope in the rigging.

In the center and in the left corner there are two chaloupes. In the right side a richly decorated state yacht is sailing away towards the ships in the right background. It has just fired a salute and the grey smoke is obscuring the view of the boats behind it. The stern of the yacht bears the arms of Holland, indicating its owner – the Province of Holland.

This painting is mostly known under the name “Harbour Mole of Texel”. But this typical harbour scene can also be attributed to almost any other Dutch port.

The painter paid much attention to the light, shadows and reflections in the water, which was not an easy task given the complexity of composition. The choice of colors adds volume and perspective. The skies were painted using an expensive pigment Lapislazuli.

The author signed the painting in the left corner on the wooden beams of the mole. The signature contains the year 1673 as well as the place “in londe”. There is little doubt that this work was commissioned by Willem van de Velde soon after he moved to London from the Netherlands.

This painting is now in the collection of the museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam. Its origins are unknown. The museum has purchased it in 1866 at an auction in Paris. The information from the auction’s catalog allows assuming that it came from the 18^th century collection of Gerret Braamcamp. By a contradicting account a similar painting from the Braamcamp’s collection was discovered in 1859 in Brussels and was sold at an auction in London in 1925, which leaves the identity of the painting in Rotterdam unclear.

Source ID #hrdmmdk#

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Koopvaardijrede ten Zuidoosten het eiland Texel
The merchant shipping anchorage southeast of Texel by Ludolph Backhuysen, 1661
Private collection

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This painting shows the merchant anchorage off the island of Texel, where ships of the Dutch East Indian Company (VOC) used to gather before setting sail for East Indies. In the center there are three vessels, a boyer, a kaag and a pink, full of people loading cargo. The smaller boats are delivering supplies to the larger boyer, while its crew is busy hoisting sails.

The scene is full of dynamism in the style that distinguishes Backhuysen from his contemporaries.  The light-colored sail directs viewer’s attention to the events on board of the pink where a family of one of the departing mariners is captured in the height of excitement.

This is one of the several tranquil sea views by Backhuysen, which were inspired by works of Simon de Vlieger,Willem van de Velde the Younger, Jan de la Capelle and Hendrik Dubbels.

Source ID: #backhlm#

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Schepen op de rede van Amsterdam
Ships in the Roads of Amsterdam, ink on panel 75x140cm
Koninklijk College Zeemanshoop, Amsterdam
(image  2787×1532 px,2.8MB)
This ink painting by Ludolph Backuysen shows the river IJ crowded with ships as it is viewed from the north bank. In the left side one can see the Amsterdam Admiralty’s depot. The ship in the centre shows its decorated stern and can be identified. The carved female figure personifies Freedom, so this must be the Vrijheid. The stern of the ship in the right is also visible, and it is possible to recognize the arms of Amsterdam. However, there have been many ships built at Kattenburg shipyard named after the city, and there is no way to tell which one is shown here. Unlike Willem van de Velde Buckhuysen did not attempt to capture exact features of individual ships, but adapted and combined details of different vessels. In this work he tried not just to portray precisely the reality but to express the peace and prosperity of Amsterdam. While the themes of struggle on land and at sea are more common to the 17^th century art, this painting evokes feelings of harmony.

Source ID: #backhlm#

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The Explosion of the Spanish Flagship in the Battle of Gibraltar April 25th 1607 by Cornelis Claesz van Wieringen, ca 1622

Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

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In 1621 the Admiralty of Amsterdam decided to commission a painting commemorating the Battle of Gibraltar that took place in 1607. This battle, in which the Dutch squadron had destroyed the Spanish fleet in the Bay of Gibraltar, was the first major Dutch naval victory in the Eighty Years’ War. This battle had cost the Dutch fleet commander Admiral Jacob van Heemskerk his life. This man was famous for his exploits in searching for the North-East Passage to India and his wintering in Novaya Zemlya in 1596-1597 together with another famous explorer Willem Barents.

This painting depicts an episode of that battle. It is not signed and until 1983 had been attributed to Hendrick Vroom.

In 1621 the head of the Admiralty of Amsterdam Prince Maurice (Mauritz) decided to get a new painting for his newly built residence in the Stadtholder Quarter in The Hague. Initially Hendrick Vroom was contracted to make a draft. Vroom requested an astronomical sum of 6000 florins. The negotiations stalled, and, after Vroom left the meeting, “calling out words of insolence”, it was concluded that the task should also be given to “another good Master in this Art, so that one could decide, who of the two is better and whom the contract is to be awarded”. Two officials travelled to Haarlem and visited there the studios of both Vroom and van Wieringen. The works of the latter made a very good impression and he was asked to make a draft picture “of two ships, eight foot wide and five foot high”.

This story is most likely about a painting in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam that depicts the explosion of a Spanish ship in the Battle of Gibraltar on April 25th 1607, even though its dimensions are not exactly the same. The draft picture had been painted in just one month after the task was given, which must have been between July and August 1621. If it was the draft van Wieringen created to get the contract, he must have been working especially fast probably to impress the Admiralty’s officials with his skills.

The central part of the painting is occupied by two ships, a Dutch warship ramming a Spanish two-decker. The stern of the latter is being consumed by an infernal explosion that is shredding its upper structure, masts, rigging and sails. The tafferel of the exploding ship hosts a carved figure of a bishop and above it flies a banner with an angel with a divine halo around it. One of the ship’s crew members raises his arms to the angel praying for saving his life from the imminent death. His less lucky mates are already in the air thrown up by the mighty force of the blast. This terrifying scene gives the painting a dramatic character. It is impossible to tell exactly the names of these two ships, although it is known that several of the Spanish ships had exploded that day.

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Dutch Whalers off a Rocky Coast by Abraham Storck, ca. 1688

Maritiem Museum Rotterdam

(image 1937 x 1433 pixels, 2.3 MB)

Several Dutch fluyts lying at anchor in northern waters while their crews are hunting whales. The ships are flying Dutch colors with a whale in the middle. The ship in the right is about to hoist a whale up to her gallows. Those are the two massive wooden beams protruding from its stern. They are used to hang whale carcasses while stripping them off blubber.

Another whale is dying in the middle of the painting. It was struck by a harpoon and the whalers are rushing towards it in their boats.

Other whalers have landed on an icy shore and are hunting polar bears with muskets, pikes and long knives. Two walruses are watching the scene undisturbed, but not for long – their tusks are precious trophy.

Paintings dedicated to whalers and their profession were among the most popular during the Dutch Golden Age. This work by Abraham Storck had obviously been so successful that he repeated this scene with minor variations in several of his other paintings. The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam acquired such one (albeit of a smaller size) in 1964. Another a bit bigger one was sold at an action in London in 1979. Yet the biggest version (58.2 x 75.4 cm), seen in this post, remains in possession of the Maritime Museum in Rotterdam. The London painting is dated 1688 and the Rotterdam one must have been commissioned at around the same time.

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