Printed from Woolley & Wallis

Description

Abraham Jansz Storck (1644-1708)

The Gouden Leeuw (Golden Lion) arriving at her anchorage receiving a salute, off Amsterdam, Holland with further shipping

Signed, also dated 1685 (indistinctly)

Oil on canvas

137 x 178cm; 54 x 70in

Provenance:

Crichel House, Dorset

Storck was a Dutch baroque painter born in Amsterdam in 1644 and was the youngest son of the painter Jan Jansz Storck, also known as Storckenburch. He is known for his marine scenes and his fine draughtsmanship. His favourite subjects were the harbour of his native city of Amsterdam, busy with craft and people and his technical skills show in his close observation of the ships he depicted. He also painted sea battles, seascapes, townscapes, river and harbour scenes and whaling expeditions. A number of his works represent ceremonial gatherings of ships and general movements of ships about the busy harbour. The central feature of this large painting is the Gouden Leeuw (Golden Lion) which was a Dutch ship of the line armed with 80-82 cannon. The ship was built for the Admiralty of Amsterdam in 1666 during the Second Anglo-Dutch War and was for a time the largest Dutch warship. During the Third Anglo-Dutch War, the ship served as the flagship of Lieutenant Admiral Cornelis Tromp. She was Tromp's flagship at the Battle of Texel in 1673, with the Irishman Thomas Tobiasz as his flag captain and is shown flying Tromp's double-prince flag. She features in a painting by Willem Van de Velde the Younger of this battle. During the battle she saw sustained action and Tromp moved his flag to the Komeetster because the Gouden Leeuw had become too damaged to handle. She was broken up in 1686, the year after this painting was created.