Boats at a Mooring Place

Abraham Storck painted this small panel in 1683 as one of a pair. Its companion, a view of a beach, has the same date and nearly the same size, about 22 by 31 centimetres, roughly a sheet of printer paper. He signed this one at the lower right and the other at the lower left.

The Dutch title is Schepen op de rede, ships in the roadstead. A roadstead was the sheltered water off a harbour where ships lay at anchor, waiting for wind, tide or cargo, and Storck shows vessels at rest close to the shore. Pendants like these were meant to be seen together, one quiet anchorage and one open beach. Both hang in the Gallery Prince Willem V and belong to the Mauritshuis.