File:Two English Ships Wrecked in a Storm on a Rocky Coast RMG BHC0907.tiff
![File:Two English Ships Wrecked in a Storm on a Rocky Coast RMG BHC0907.tiff](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/38/Two_English_Ships_Wrecked_in_a_Storm_on_a_Rocky_Coast_RMG_BHC0907.tiff/lossy-page1-800px-Two_English_Ships_Wrecked_in_a_Storm_on_a_Rocky_Coast_RMG_BHC0907.tiff.jpg)
Original file (7,200 × 4,952 pixels, file size: 102.01 MB, MIME type: image/tiff)
![]() | This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons. Information from its description page there is shown below. Commons is a freely licensed media file repository. You can help. |
Summary
Willem van de Velde the Younger: Two English Ships Wrecked in a Storm on a Rocky Coast
![]() ![]() |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Artist |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Title | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Object type |
painting object_type QS:P31,Q3305213 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Genre |
marine art ![]() |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Description |
English: Two English Ships Wrecked in a Storm on a Rocky Coast Prominently positioned, in the right foreground, is a ship viewed from before the port beam. Heavy seas break over the fore part as it sinks close to the towering rocks. Her mainmast has gone and, although the foremast and mizzen mast are still standing, her topmasts have been carried away. She has a tattered red ensign on a staff at the taffrail, tattered remnants of sails, lines flying loose in the storm and figures clinging to the rigging. One figure clings to her spritsail top at the extreme end of the bowsprit. Although the rest of the bow is submerged. The pitch of the ship reveals figures huddled on what is left of the deck, awaiting their inevitable fate. In the right corner there is a rock onto which three men have climbed to safety. Beyond a second ship, in starboard-bow view, is about to be driven onto the craggy shore. Her foremast is standing and there is a plain red pennant at that masthead. Only the main lower mast remains and the mizzen mast has been carried away just below the top. Men can be seen desperately clinging to the rigging and to ropes dangling over the side. On the left two other ships are visible in the distance. The one on the far left is labouring in the heavy sea while the other, flying the red ensign and red pennants, appears to be lying at anchor. The dark clouds of the stormy sky break, in the centre of the painting, behind the principal ship and display a glowing pink and orange light. This increases in intensity on the breakers around the ship that is wrecked as well as on the sails of the ship about to be run aground. The composition of this painting repeats a convention used frequently by Dutch artists working earlier in the century such as Jacob Bellevois (BHC0837) and Jan Theunisz Blanckerhoff (BHC0921). In which, typically, ships are shown being driven by the wind onto rocks on the right of the painting. Van de Velde emphasizes the drama by the use of strong colour, silhouetting the ships against the sky and foam as well as tilting the foreground ship to engage the viewer. This work is broadly painted for dramatic effect in the sky and sea but, as might be expected of a late work, may show evidence of a studio assistant’s work in places. Around 1700 van de Velde made a number of small drawings of ships driven ashore. These drawings were possibly for the use of the studio. In particular one of these drawings, a rapid sketch, with the letter ‘L’ (= light) inscribed in the sky may be a preparatory study for a painting of similar subject and date to this work. Although, an English subject and painted for the English market, we can deduce from the flags that this late work, thought to date from about 1700, may represent the ultimate development of the Dutch shipwreck painting. Its composition is similar to that of a larger painting by van de Velde the Younger at Loseley House, near Guildford, Surrey which is dated 1696. Vertue described the Loseley painting as ‘one of the finest Vandevelds storms. & Large. that ever he painted.’ Between his arrival in England and his death Van de Velde produced a large number of paintings showing storms and shipwrecks. An early example of one of these work is in the Museum’s collection, signed and dated ‘In Londen 1672’. In addition, in 1673, he painted a similar subject for one of four over-doors intended for the Duchess of Lauderdale’s bedchamber at Ham House. The artist was the younger son of Willem van de Velde the Elder. Born in Leiden, he studied under Simon de Vlieger in Weesp and, in 1652, moved back to Amsterdam. He worked in his father's studio and developed the skill of carefully drawing ships in tranquil settings. He changed his subject matter, however, when he came with his father to England in 1672-73. Increasingly he concentrated on royal yachts, men-of-war and storm scenes. From this time painting sea battles for Charles II and his brother (and Lord High Admiral) James, Duke of York, as well as other patrons became a priority. Unlike his father's works, however, they were not usually eyewitness accounts. After his father's death in 1693 his continuing role as an official marine painter obliged him to be more frequently present at significant maritime events. The painting is signed 'W. Van de Velde J'. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Date |
circa 1700 date QS:P571,+1700-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1480,Q5727902 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medium |
oil on canvas ![]() |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dimensions | Frame: 1455 mm x 1990 mm x 80 mm;Painting: 1245 mm x 1780 mm;Overall weight: 79 kg; | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Collection |
institution QS:P195,Q7374509 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Current location | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Accession number |
BHC0907 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Notes |
According to Michael Robinson's Paintings Catalogue (vol. 2, p.1078) the painting is ‘said to have come from the collection of George Francis Wyndham, the 4th and last Earl of Egremont ( 1785-1845). The estates passed by inheritance to William Wyndham of Orchard Wyndham, Williton, near Taunton, Somerset, from whose house the pictures were removed after his death, 6 August 1950 for sale at Christie’s, London, 24 April 1953, no.154.’ Signed ‘W. Van de Velde J’ |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
References | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Source/Photographer | http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/12399 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Permission (Reusing this file) |
The original artefact or artwork has been assessed as public domain by age, and faithful reproductions of the two dimensional work are also public domain. No permission is required for reuse for any purpose. The text of this image record has been derived from the Royal Museums Greenwich catalogue and image metadata. Individual data and facts such as date, author and title are not copyrightable, but reuse of longer descriptive text from the catalogue may not be considered fair use. Reuse of the text must be attributed to the "National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London" and a Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-SA-3.0 license may apply if not rewritten. Refer to Royal Museums Greenwich copyright. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Identifier InfoField | Acquisition Number: OP1962-92 id number: BHC0907 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Collection InfoField | Oil paintings |
Licensing
This is a faithful photographic reproduction of a two-dimensional, public domain work of art. The work of art itself is in the public domain for the following reason:
The official position taken by the Wikimedia Foundation is that "faithful reproductions of two-dimensional public domain works of art are public domain".
This photographic reproduction is therefore also considered to be in the public domain in the United States. In other jurisdictions, re-use of this content may be restricted; see Reuse of PD-Art photographs for details. |
Captions
Items portrayed in this file
depicts
File history
Click on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time.
Date/Time | Thumbnail | Dimensions | User | Comment | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
current | 03:33, 21 September 2017 | ![]() | 7,200 × 4,952 (102.01 MB) | Fæ | Royal Museums Greenwich Oil paintings (1700), http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/12399 #1097 |
File usage
Global file usage
The following other wikis use this file:
Metadata
This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to create or digitize it.
If the file has been modified from its original state, some details may not fully reflect the modified file.
Width | 7,200 px |
---|---|
Height | 4,952 px |
Bits per component |
|
Compression scheme | Uncompressed |
Pixel composition | RGB |
Image data location | 140 |
Number of components | 3 |
Number of rows per strip | 4,952 |
Bytes per compressed strip | 106,963,200 |
Data arrangement | chunky format |