This unique and magnificent etching by Ludolf Backhuysen has never been published before. Prominent in the left foreground is a States’ Yacht with an ornate transom. The arms on the flag are those of Prince Maurits of Orange. In the center are a number of capital ships, one seen bows on, the other with a lavishly decorated transom. A smaller ship recognisable as a flute is under sail on the far right. The ship in the center served as a model for later paintings, drawings and prints by Backhuysen. It recurs in a pen painting of 1660 in the collection of the ‘Koninklijk College Zeemanshoop’ in Amsterdam, and is clearly recognisable in a series of prints of 1701 that Backhuysen made at the ripe old age of 71.