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Notes
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This painting shows a Dutch ship on calm waters. The ship is moving through a channel, towing a boat. The deck is full of figures all facing the bow of the ship. The vessel is depicted in port-bow view, as if about to sail past the spectator, displaying its minutely observed busy life on deck. It is flying the Dutch flag from the mainmast and a red flag with a device in gold at the stern. This depiction of the vessel is observed minutely. In the distance the scene is flanked on either side by mountainous shores, crowned on the right by a large medieval castle. The view, which does not refer to any specific geographic location, stretches to the horizon, suffused by light shimmering through the thin layer of clouds. Although, the high rocks topped by a castle are not intended to be topographically correct, they are a motif used in Flemish landscape art which Vroom adopted into his marine work.
All these elements seem to be synchronised in this painting and the landscape adopts an idealised European setting. However the lighting is highly naturalistic and the convention of aerial perspective has been abandoned. The colours embrace a wide range of greens, browns and greys, illuminated and accentuated through the brighter-coloured details of the flags and figures. Vroom creates a stylistic balance with realistic detail which can be observed, for example, in the careful handling of the reflections in the water that marks out his mature works and which has, at least in part, been responsible for his reputation as the first Dutch seascape artist.
Title
A Castle with a Ship Sailing Nearby
Date
1626
Medium
oil on panel
Measurements
H 38.1 x W 59.7 cm
Accession number
BHC0726
Work type
Painting
National Maritime Museum
Romney Road, Greenwich, London, Greater London SE10 9NF England
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