Lot 215: Willem van de Velde I (Leiden 1611-1693 London)

Willem van de Velde I (Leiden 1611-1693 London) Admiral De Ruyter meeting Tromp aboard for a council of war after the Battle of Lowestoft in 1665 black chalk, grey wash 7¼ x 12½ in. (18.6 x 31.9 cm.)

18.6 x 31.9 cm.

with Colnaghi, London.

One of a series of drawings executed by the elder van de Velde of the Battle of Lowestoft on 13 June 1665, of which there are six in the Rijksmuseum (invs. RP-T-00-387 to 391B). A hundred-strong Dutch fleet attacked an English fleet commanded by James, Duke of York, forty miles off the Suffolk coast and, after a hard-fought battle, was defeated. The attribution and subject were suggested by Michael Robinson, which would indicate that the ship at the centre of the composition is Admiral De Ruyter's flagship, the Zeven Provincien. The drawing is, however, too sketchy for confidence in this identification. Vice Admiral Cornelis Tromp was the commander of the fifth of seven squadrons in the battle and, as such, was a comparatively junior officer, with his ship the Liefde. This may be the ship in the right background with the smaller flag. De Ruyter did not actually engage in the battle, but Tromp was presumably forced to report to him because the commanding officer of the Dutch fleet, Obdam van Wassenaer, had been killed in the course of battle when his flagship, the Eendracht blew up. We are grateful to Pieter van der Merwe for sharing his thoughts on the identifications of the ships in the present drawing.