Ships in the Roads

A roadstead is a stretch of sheltered water off the coast where ships lie at anchor, waiting for wind or tide while small boats ferry people and goods ashore. Willem van de Velde the Younger painted one around 1658. There is hardly a breath of wind. The horizon sits low, big cumulus clouds fill most of the canvas, and the slack sails catch patches of light and shade. In the middle lies a richly decorated yacht flying the Dutch flag. Cargo ships ride at anchor around it, and rowing boats carry passengers between the ships and the shore. A barrel floats in the water at the front, and that is where the painter put his initials. By 1765 the picture had passed from the Amsterdam collection of Pieter Leendert de Neufville to Prince William V, the Dutch stadholder.