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Lot Essay
Until Michael Robinson pointed out the similarity in style between the present work and the grisaille in Greenwich of the Battle of Schooneveld, signed and dated 'W.v.Velde f 1684 oudt 73 Jaren', the date of the present picture was generally accepted as 1689, presumably because the date had been read as such. Robinson speculates that this juxtaposition of the Dutch and English fleets in 1689 could be symbolic of the artist's desire for a reconciliation between his principal Stuart patron, James II, and William of Orange, following the Glorious Revolution and ascension of William and Mary to the English throne in April 1689.
The date does, however, clearly read 1684, which is also more likely in view of the historical evidence contained in the picture itself. The Prince, which is shown foreground left, flies the Stuart Royal standard at the main, and a red flag as a signal for close action at the fore. The ship was built in 1670; it served as the flagship of the Duke of York, the future James II, at the Battle of Solebay in 1672. Paintings by Van de Velde the Younger of the Battle of Solebay show the Prince with exactly the same configuration of flags as in the present picture, which leads one to suppose the ship was still part of the Stuart navy at the time the picture was painted.
The Dutch ship the Gouden Leeuw, shown on the right of the picture, was built in 1666, and already listed as obsolete in 1686. It was commanded by Cornelis Tromp. Tromp was one of the leading Dutch admirals of the third Anglo-Dutch War. He was later knighted by Charles II on a visit to England in 1675. It is significant that the Gouden Leeuw does not fly the 'double prince' flag and ensign she flew in the battles of 1673, in which she was closely engaged with the Prince, nor the same pennants and vanes with which she is shown in other pictures by the Van de Veldes. The uncharacteristic many-striped vanes would appear to have a more commemorative function here. Similarly, Robinson suggests that the man at the masthead performs a symbolic rather than a historically accurate function in putting up the pennant at the main to denote Tromp's position as commander-in-chief of the fleet, a distinction he obtained only briefly in August 1665 in another ship, the Liefde.
It would appear that the present picture was commissioned shortly after the accession of James II to the throne in February 1684, to commemorate James's role in the renewed Anglo-Dutch alliance, recently strengthened through the marriage of his own daughter Mary to Prince William of Orange in 1677. The two fleets are thus depicted saluting each other, with a Dutch barge pulling towards the Prince and an English barge pulling toward the Gouden Leeuw, engaged in courtesies as they pass. A state barge lying on the Prince's starboard quarter reinforces the formal festive atmosphere.
The picture was painted after the separation of the Van de Velde studios, and Robinson believes that some of the slight stiffness in the sails and some details may be due to the intervention of Isaac Sailmaker, who took the place of the younger Van de Velde in his father's studio. Nevertheless, Robinson hails the work as 'the Elder's greatest achievement in oils', remarkable in its exactitude and painstaking attention to details, which, together with its subject matter, would seem to reinforce the possibility that the picture was originally commissioned by the new King himself.
The date does, however, clearly read 1684, which is also more likely in view of the historical evidence contained in the picture itself. The Prince, which is shown foreground left, flies the Stuart Royal standard at the main, and a red flag as a signal for close action at the fore. The ship was built in 1670; it served as the flagship of the Duke of York, the future James II, at the Battle of Solebay in 1672. Paintings by Van de Velde the Younger of the Battle of Solebay show the Prince with exactly the same configuration of flags as in the present picture, which leads one to suppose the ship was still part of the Stuart navy at the time the picture was painted.
The Dutch ship the Gouden Leeuw, shown on the right of the picture, was built in 1666, and already listed as obsolete in 1686. It was commanded by Cornelis Tromp. Tromp was one of the leading Dutch admirals of the third Anglo-Dutch War. He was later knighted by Charles II on a visit to England in 1675. It is significant that the Gouden Leeuw does not fly the 'double prince' flag and ensign she flew in the battles of 1673, in which she was closely engaged with the Prince, nor the same pennants and vanes with which she is shown in other pictures by the Van de Veldes. The uncharacteristic many-striped vanes would appear to have a more commemorative function here. Similarly, Robinson suggests that the man at the masthead performs a symbolic rather than a historically accurate function in putting up the pennant at the main to denote Tromp's position as commander-in-chief of the fleet, a distinction he obtained only briefly in August 1665 in another ship, the Liefde.
It would appear that the present picture was commissioned shortly after the accession of James II to the throne in February 1684, to commemorate James's role in the renewed Anglo-Dutch alliance, recently strengthened through the marriage of his own daughter Mary to Prince William of Orange in 1677. The two fleets are thus depicted saluting each other, with a Dutch barge pulling towards the Prince and an English barge pulling toward the Gouden Leeuw, engaged in courtesies as they pass. A state barge lying on the Prince's starboard quarter reinforces the formal festive atmosphere.
The picture was painted after the separation of the Van de Velde studios, and Robinson believes that some of the slight stiffness in the sails and some details may be due to the intervention of Isaac Sailmaker, who took the place of the younger Van de Velde in his father's studio. Nevertheless, Robinson hails the work as 'the Elder's greatest achievement in oils', remarkable in its exactitude and painstaking attention to details, which, together with its subject matter, would seem to reinforce the possibility that the picture was originally commissioned by the new King himself.