A Small Dutch Vessel close-hauled in a Strong Breeze

An angry light breaks through threatening clouds, illuminating a wave that beats up against the side of a galjoot, the small boat keeling over with the wind. An explosion of white spray looks almost as if it is reaching up to swallow the man hauling in the foresail. The blue and white flag at the masthead indicates that the boat is from Texel, a busy island city in North Holland; it may be a pilot going out to assist an incoming ship. Ahead is a huge warship, its pennant flying – one in a fleet of Dutch naval vessels that disappear into the distance.

The storm scene was painted in the Amsterdam studio of Willem van de Velde the Elder by his son, Willem the Younger. Such pictures may seem unlikely as decorative items but they were popular, perhaps because they were exciting. In this one there is also a touch of reassurance from the hint of blue in the sky and the sun on the sail of the galjoot.

Text: © The National Gallery, London

Painting photographed in its frame by Google Arts & Culture, 2023.