The Man-of-War Brielle on the River Maas off Rotterdam by Ludolf Backhuysen was created in 1689. The painting is in Rijkmuseum Amsterdam. The size of the work is 130 x 197 cm and is made as an oil on canvas.
In 1688 this ship carried Prince William III to England to drive the Catholic King James II from power and to safeguard the Protestant faith. The Latin inscription on the red flag translates as ‘for faith and freedom’. Bakhuysen painted this picture in 1689, the year in which William III and Mary Stuart were crowned king and queen regnant of England… (read more in Rijkmuseum)
About the Artist: German-born Dutch painter, draughtsman, calligrapher and printmaker Ludolf Backhuysen was born in Emden, East Frisia. Bakhuysen grew up in Emden, which had its heyday in the 16th century and was already showing signs of decline. In 1650 he went to Amsterdam and joined the trading company Bartolotti as clerk. He studied first under Allart van Everdingen and then under Hendrik Dubbels, two eminent masters of the time, and soon became celebrated for his sea-pieces, which often had rough seas. His first known pictures date from 1658. In 1663 he was admitted to the St. Lucas Guild of Amsterdam painters… Read more
