Lot 1: Christoffel Bisschop (1828-1904)

Barentsz and Heemskerck signed 'C Bisschop' (lower left) oil on canvas 261/2 x 32in. (67.2 x 81.2cm.) Willem Barentsz, the great 16th century Dutch Arctic explorer, and Jacob van Heemskerck, the explorer and maritime hero, are depicted with charts and a map of Novaya Zemlya inscribed with the date '4 July 1594'. Barentsz, searching for a north-east passage to open up an alternative trade route to Cathay, sailed in the Mercury of Amsterdam in 1594, tracing the then unknown west coast of northern Novaya Zemlya to its most northerly point, naming a group of islands after his prince, William of Orange, on 31 July 1594. His crews fear of the pack ice in the Kara Sea halted his progress east and he returned home. Jacob van Heemskerck commanded a further voyage in 1596, with Barentsz as navigating officer, and with a second ship commanded by Jan Cornelisz Rijp, the fleet headed north and discovered Spitzbergen. Heemskerck became beset in the ice, abandoned ship and overwintered on Novaya Zemlya before embarking on a 1500 mile boat journey (on which Barentsz perished) to Kola. Relics of Heemskerck and Barentsz's winter quarters of 1596-7 were discovered in 1871 and included a note written by the two explorers explaining the circumstances of their plight. The relics were exhibited in Amsterdam and the Hague in the 1870s, once again bringing their exploits to the fore and presumably inspiring the present picture.