The famous marine painter Willem van de Velde the Younger was the grandson of a Flemish seaman and the son of a celebrated draftsman of ships, both of them named Willem van de Velde. Willem the Younger trained initially in Leiden with his father, from whom he acquired an extensive knowledge of ships and great skill in drawing them. About 1650, he studied with Simon de Vlieger in Weesp, and in 1672 moved to London, where he spent the remainder of his career.
This canvas represents a panoramic view of Dutch boats and ships just outside a harbor; the wooden breakwater (or groin) to the left would help protect the channel from surf on a less tranquil day. Robinson (1990) plausibly dates the work to about 1665, and considers it a good example of Van de Velde the Younger's work in the last few years before he left Holland. In defense of that artist's sole responsibility for the execution, Robinson cites the accurate drawing in all the vessels, the deft hand in the rigging, the complete mastery of scale and perspective in the receding ships, and the fact that "the figures may be his own work," whereas figures in earlier works were often painted by his slightly younger brother, Adriaen van de Velde (1636–1672).
The boat on the left is a
kaag, a cargo vessel used mostly on inland waterways, but also to supply seagoing ships at anchor. Here the mainsail is "boomed out" to provide shade over part of the deck. Behind the
kaag is a
weyschuit, a small fishing boat meant for use close to shore. Boats of this type existed in many versions and were powered by oars or in some cases a sail, as here. To the far right is a spoon-bowed fishing boat, its spritsail set; the narrow leeboard (which was lowered to resist drift) is typical of craft that worked offshore (in contrast to the
kaag). The vessel being rowed by about six oarsmen in the center of the view appears to be a state barge (compare the one in Jan van de Cappelle's
A State Yacht and Other Craft in Calm Water,
12.31), with another one astern. Nine or ten ships are anchored farther out, their distance from one another allowing for changes in wind and tide. They face out to sea, so the tide is coming in, and the breeze, as seen in the flags, is too light to swing the ships. The largest vessels are East Indiamen, heavily armed cargo ships named for their service in the East India Company (VOC). The most prominent ship has a painting of a country house on its taffrail, which is surely a visualization of the ship's name, as in the case of the
Huis te Oostetwijk (Oosterwijk House), a warship well known to the artist and his father in the mid-1660s.
Dutch flags fly on the
weyschuit, on the state barges, and on the anchored ships. The flag on the
kaag, with blue horizontal bands top and bottom and a white band in the middle, could be that of Diemen, Muiden, or Weesp, towns just southeast of Amsterdam.
No painter did more in the 1650s and 1660s to answer the Dutch demand for views like this one: calm waters, sunny skies, rewarding work, and ships that have come safely home.
[2016; adapted from Liedtke 2007]
