Abraham Storck, (1644–1708)
The 'Royal Prince' and other Vessels at the Four Days Battle, 1–4 June 1666, circa 1670
Oil on canvas
78.5 cm (30.9 in); Width: 110.5 cm (43.5 in)
National Maritime Museum
The Four Days' Battle was a naval battle of the Second Anglo-Dutch War. Fought from 1 June to 4 June 1666 in the Julian or Old Style calendar then used in England off the Flemish and English coast, it remains one of the longest naval engagements in history.
The Dutch inflicted significant damage on the English fleet. The English had gambled that the crews of the many new Dutch ships of the line would not have been fully trained yet, but were deceived in their hopes: they lost ten ships in total, with around 1,500 men killed including two vice-admirals, while about 2000 English were taken prisoner. Dutch losses were four ships destroyed by fire and over 1,550 men killed. More on The Four Days' Battle
Prominent in the foreground, to the left, is the stern of Lieutenant-Admiral Michiel de Ruyter's ship 'De Zeven Provincien' (Seven Provinces), 80 guns. She flies the Dutch flag from the mainmast together with her squadron pennant. The stern is decorated with the lion emblem of the Dutch Republic which is surrounded by the armorial bearings of the provinces.
On the right the English flagship 'Royal Prince', 85 guns, under the command of Admiral Sir George Ayscue, is shown grounded on the Galloper Shoals on the third day of the battle. She is flying the ensign of the English white squadron on the mainmast and the Stuart royal arms are visible carved on her stern.
'De Zeven Provincien' and 'Royal Prince' release clouds of white smoke as they fire their guns. The ‘Royal Prince’ was eventually taken by Cornelis Tromp and De Ruyter subsequently gave orders to burn her. More on this painting
Abraham Storck (or Sturckenburch) (bapt. 17 April 1644 in Amsterdam – buried 8 April 1708), was a Dutch painter, who enjoyed a reputation for his marine paintings, topographical views and Italianate harbour scenes. Storck was an outstanding draughtsman.
Storck had two brothers, who were also painters using the name Sturckenburch until c. 1688 after which they started calling themselves Storck or Sturck. It is likely they were all trained with their father in the family workshop and joined the local Guild of Saint Luke, otherwise it was impossible to sell any painting.
Around 1666 Storck set up his own workshop producing naval, harbor scenes as well as landscape paintings and city scapes. In 1670 he traveled with his brother Jacob and worked in Germany. At the end of his life he lived on Kattenburg near the harbour. More on Abraham Storck
Please visit my other blogs: Art
Collector, Mythology, Marine
Art, Portrait of a Lady, The
Orientalist, Art of the Nude and The
Canals of Venice, And
visit my Boards on Pinterest
Images are copyright of their
respective owners, assignees or others. Some Images may be subject to copyright
I don't own any of these images -
credit is always given when due unless it is unknown to me. if I post your
images without your permission, please tell me.
I do not sell art, art prints, framed
posters or reproductions. Ads are shown only to compensate the hosting
expenses.
If you enjoyed this post, please share
with friends and family.
Thank you for visiting my blog and also
for liking its posts and pages.
Please note that the content of this post primarily consists of articles
available from Wikipedia or other free sources online.
No comments:
Post a Comment