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The Blockade of the Privateers' Nest at Dunkirk
Cornelis Isaacsz. Verbeeck (Dutch, about 1590 – 1637)
about 1630
Medium/Technique
Oil on panel
Dimensions
77 × 121 cm (30 5/16 × 47 5/8 in.)
Framed: 99.1 × 142.2 cm (39 × 56 in.)
Framed: 99.1 × 142.2 cm (39 × 56 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase with funds donated by Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo, in support of the Center for Netherlandish Art
Accession Number2021.59
ClassificationsPaintings
Today Dunkirk is best known as the town on the English Channel where over 300,000 British and French soldiers were evacuated to England during World War II. But that battle was just one of many that took place over the centuries near this port. In the 17th century, Flemish privateers (seagoing mercenaries), backed by Spain, menaced Dutch commerce in the North Sea. Here, we see Dutch warships, flying the red, white, and blue flag of the Republic, arrayed along the coast to keep Flemish ships at bay.
Verbeeck’s picture typifies the early phase of Dutch seascape painting, characterized by a high horizon line, bright colors, and meticulous detail.
Verbeeck’s picture typifies the early phase of Dutch seascape painting, characterized by a high horizon line, bright colors, and meticulous detail.
InscriptionsCenter left: CVBH on the flag on the mizzen
ProvenanceAbout 1630, possibly commissioned by Philips van Dorp (1587-1652), The Hague [see note 1]. By 1897, Lars Fredrik Lovén (b. 1844 –d. 1939) and Louise Von Rosen Lovén (b. 1853 – d. 1937), Linköping, Sweden [see note 2]; until 2020, by descent within the family; June 16-18, 2020, sale (consigned by a Lovén descendant), Uppsala Auktionskammar, Stockholm, lot 5 [see note 3], to Kunsthandel Rob Kattenburg, Bergen, The Netherlands; 2021, sold by Kunsthandel Rob Kattenburg to the MFA. (Accession Date: February 24, 2021)
NOTES:
[1] As suggested by Rob Kattenburg, Cornelis Isaacsz. Verbeeck: Discovery of a Masterpiece (2020). Philips van Dorp was captain of the ship Vlieghende Groene Draeck. [2] Visible in a 1897 photograph of their home. A Swedish-language label on the verso suggests it was called The Cape of Good Hope when it was in their possession. [3] As “Men o’ war outside the coast with a city and a fort beyond.”
NOTES:
[1] As suggested by Rob Kattenburg, Cornelis Isaacsz. Verbeeck: Discovery of a Masterpiece (2020). Philips van Dorp was captain of the ship Vlieghende Groene Draeck. [2] Visible in a 1897 photograph of their home. A Swedish-language label on the verso suggests it was called The Cape of Good Hope when it was in their possession. [3] As “Men o’ war outside the coast with a city and a fort beyond.”