(Emden 1630 – 1708 Amsterdam)
The Dutch men-o-war ‘Ridderschap’ and ‘Hollandia’ (with broken mainmast and mizzen) in difficulties during a hurricane in the Straits of Gibraltar, 1-3 March 1694
Oil on canvas, 150 x 227 cm
Signed with initials on the barrel: l.b
Formerly Rob Kattenburg collection
Purchased by the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.
Provenance:…; collection E. Malling, 1917;{According to the catalogue for the sale, Amsterdam (Christie’s), 8 December 1983, no. 56.}…; sale, Abraham Cornelis Mees (1864-1950, Wassenaar), Amsterdam (Mak van Waay), 21 (22) January 1947 sqq., no. 1557, fl. 2,600;{Copy RKD.}…; sale, Amsterdam (Christie’s), 8 December 1983, no. 56;…; the dealer Rob Kattenburg, Amsterdam, 1984;{Delft 1984, p. 22.} from whom on loan to the museum, 1987 (inv. no. SK-C-1619); from whom, fl. 275,000, to the museum, with support from the Vereniging Rembrandt, 1988.
Literature: All the paintings of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam: a completely illustrated catalogue: first supplement: 1976-91, p. 40. Ludolf Bakhuizen 1631-1708: schryfmeesterteyckenaar-schilder, Ben P.J. Broos, Roosannie Kromhout, Robert Vorstman, Willem L. van de Watering, p. 59, cat.nr. S33; Choice of acquisitions: [1988-3], p. 257, fig. 2. Mauritshuis and Rijksdienst Beeldende Kunst, ‘”A choice”: a small and personal selection by the guest curator mr. drs. L.C. Brinkman from the various acquisitions acquired for the National Collection during the last seven years’, The Hague 1989, folding sheet no. 20, Hanru Nannen, Ludolf Backhuysen : ein Versuch, Leben und Werk des Künstlers zu beschreiben, Emden 1985. Gerlinde de Beer, Sein Leben und Werk, Ludolf Backhuysen (1630-1708), pp.148-149, Abb. 185, cat. nr. 95, Zwolle 2002.
About thirty warships left for the Mediterranean in early 1694. They were protecting a merchant fleet from French attacks. In the Strait of Gibraltar, they encountered a severe storm. Several ships sank or were severely damaged, including the Hollandia, shown to the right of center in the painting.
Dark storm clouds gather over the sea. Five ships are overtaken below the coast by this heavy storm. Of the second ship from the left, only the jib mast is still standing; wreckage floats in the waves.
Ludolf Bakhuysen has beautifully captured the threat of the storm. The last sunlight falling on the waves between the dark gray clouds makes the violence of nature palpable. This is probably not a historical event. Depictions like this refer to the unpredictability of the elements and the futility of man, and were very popular in the 17th century. By all accounts, Bakhuysen sought out the water in bad weather in order to properly study the effects of weather on air and water.
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