Lot 58: Cornelis Beelt (Rotterdam c. 1630-1702 Haarlem or Rotterdam)

Cornelis Beelt (Rotterdam c. 1630-1702 Haarlem or Rotterdam)
The Departure of King Charles II from Scheveningen on 24 May 1660
oil on canvas
84 x 112.5 cm.

O. Granberg, Trésors d'art en Suède, Stöckholm, 1912, III, no. 314, plate 29, as Willem Schellinks.

Par Ulmgrens, Sweden, no. 74. (according to a label on reverse)
Count F.C. Wachtmeister, Tristad Castle, Nyköping Sweden.
Anonymous sale; Christie's, London, 21 April 2004, lot 28, where bought by the current owner.

Christie’s charges a premium to the buyer on the Hammer Price of each lot sold at the following rates: 29.75% of the Hammer Price of each lot up to and including €20,000, plus 23.8% of the Hammer Price between €20,001 and €800.000, plus 14.28% of any amount in excess of €800.000. Buyer’s premium is calculated on the basis of each lot individually.
The scene depicts King Charles II's embarkation on the beach of Scheveningen that was to take him back to England for the Restoration. The events on the day - 24 May 1660 - were recorded by Samuel Pepys who, as the secretary of the fleet commander Lord Sandwich, was an eye-witness to the events. Pepys described the shore as being 'so full of people ... as that it was as black (which otherwise is white sand), as every one could stand by another.' Beelt painted different versions of this subject, one being in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (inv. no. A2692).

Another version with a decidedly meager assemblage of people, was painted in 1659 (private collection). In that year the King intended to return in secrecy in order to support a Rebellion against the Parliamentarians. This Rebellion was uncovered before it got started and the King's departure was cancelled. In 1660 Cromwell died which paved the way for an official return of the King with all pomp and circumstance that Beelt so successfully put on canvas in the present lot.

For further reading on the depicted subject, see B. Rapp, 'Charles II's Departure for England; Two Paintings by Cornelis Beelt', in The Connoisseur, December 1949, pp. 110-1.