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Description: | This tiny seascape focuses the attention of the spectator on the dramatic attack on a French armed trading vessel by two Mediterranean galleys which bear the Turkish crescent. In contrast with the action, in the centre foreground, the sea is calm, dark green with fine white crests, stretching towards the open horizon in increasingly lighter hues. Under a light but overcast sky the corsairs launch their assault from either side of the larger ship. The French ship returns their fire. The bright flames and billowing smoke seem to lock them together in combat. Variations of the scene appear in two faint groups of vessels on the horizon.
The violent subject matter of the ?Barbary Pirates? was popular in Dutch and Flemish painting throughout the seventeenth century and reflected the continuous threat to shipping in the Mediterranean by North African corsairs. The corsairs? Islamic origin is emphasized through the clearly marked crescents on the galley stern lanterns and finials. This contrast serves to heighten the pictorial and narrative drama. The traditional identification of the ship as French is based on the white (Bourbon) flag at the mainmast. Interestingly, in this panel the artist has rejected the possibility of adding a Mediterranean coastline and any topographical reference is conveyed solely by the vessels themselves.
According to his notebook, Eric Palmer acquired this small cabinet piece before 1955, as a work painted by ?Antum?. In the early twentieth century Aert Anthonisz?s work repeatedly entered collections, including that of the National Maritime Museum, as ?Aert van Antum?. Palmer was obviously unaware of the style as that of Aert Anthonisz. Anthonisz was born in Antwerp in 1579 or 1580 and appears to have moved to Amsterdam in 1591, where he spent most of his working life. While in Amsterdam, he may have been associated with Hendrik Cornelisz Vroom. The influence of Hendrick Vroom, who is assumed to have been Anthonisz?s teacher, can be seen in the depiction of the trading vessel. The fairly high viewpoint and the green-greyish colour scheme, which lends the scene a degree of natural atmosphere, are, also, found in Vroom?s 'Ships Trading in the East' (BHC0727). These stylistic aspects may indicate a date of around 1615. Anthonisz became a citizen of Amsterdam in 1604, where he died in 1620. He is, also, believed to have been the teacher of Cornelisz Vroom and the father and/or teacher of Hendrick van Anthonissen.
caption: 2133mm (H) Crop
caption: A French Ship and Barbary Pirates | Publisher: | "http://collections.rmg.co.uk/" | Rights holder: | "Royal Museums Greenwich" | Subjects: | paintings | Source: | Royal Museums Greenwich | Identifier: | http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections... | Go to resource |
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