Private collection France

Fishermen are trying to lower the red mainsail on their small vessel.
In the background, in front of the rocks a large merchant ship is sinking.
Sunlight shines on the Mediterranean port in distance.
The dark clouds and high rocky coast give the picture a dramatic effect.

Ludolf Backhuysen was the most eminent marine painter in Holland in the last quarter of the seventeenth century.
In the late 1690’s he began to paint dramatic compositions where storms dictate a typical contrast of dangerous clouds and a bright sky. The narrative is usually amplified by torn sails, driftwood and barrels in the water. This one ship composition is quite unique in the oeuvre of Backhuysen. It resembles one of the biblical pictures from the same year, Christ on the lake of Galilea now in the Indianapolis museum of art. A small vessel with people is in the center of the picture. In the distance sinks a ship. The big difference between the two pictures is the background with or without rocks.

To a seventeenth century beholder, the theme of ships in distress could have held many levels of meaning. Backhuysen penchant for theatrical effects no doubt encouraged the viewer to vicarious enjoyment of gripping drama. However such subjects also had moralizing overtones, a ship threatened by destruction was a reminder for the Dutch audience of their vulnerability and life\'s transience. In a governmental building the ship was seen as a metaphor for the ship of state their precarious circumstances became a commentary on the dangers of government.

Backhuysen was a German-born painter who lived the greater part of his live in Amsterdam. His rough seas were much celebrated. He had many students in his big studio, which was visited by Cosimo de Medici. His dramatic storms are so vivid since he often sailed out when a storm was brewing to observe how the weather affected the sea and the sky. His compositions, which are numerous, are nearly all variations of one subject, the sea, and in a style peculiarly his own, marked by intense realism or faithful imitation of nature. He also painted some portraits.

We are grateful to Dr Gerlinde de Beer for confirming the attribution.