A Dutch Flagship Coming to Anchor Close to the Land in a Fresh Breeze

In June 1666 the Dutch and English fleets fought for four days in the southern North Sea, one of the longest sea battles of the age, and the Dutch came out on top. The Museum of Fine Arts suggests that the warship in this picture may be the Utrecht, a ship that won fame in the wars between the two countries, in the Four Days' Battle above all. Willem van de Velde painted it around 1672 at a delicate moment. The flagship, the vessel that carried an admiral, is coming to anchor close under the land in a brisk wind, a manoeuvre that left little room for error. He gives as much care to the build of the ship as to the crew at work on her, getting ready to let the anchor go. The painting belongs to the Boston collectors Susan and Matthew Weatherbie, who bought it from a London dealer in 2004 and have promised it to the museum in support of its Center for Netherlandish Art.