Jan van de Cappelle, 'A Shipping Scene with a Dutch Yacht firing a Salute', 1650

Jan van de Cappelle’s sea is flat calm and luminous – even the few boats that appear to be moving hardly disturb the still reflections. Flags droop or raise a faint flutter, and sails seem to reach up in vain for a breeze. But there’s a sense of drama in the picture, unusual for the artist. Grey clouds threaten and a fitful sun breaks through, making a single white furled sail gleam. The barge in the foreground on the right is rowed with some urgency, and a forest of sails and masts crowd together in the middle distance. A puff of smoke from a cannon reminds us that in seventeenth-century Holland ships were for war as well as trade.

In these images, a single cannon firing a shot is usually a salute on board a naval vessel. In this case, the smoke comes from the yacht with its sails unfurled in a graceful curve. Perhaps it acknowledges the departure of the man seated at the back of the barge heading away from the larger vessel. This is a Statenjacht (state yacht), an official vessel used for carrying members of the States General or members of the parliaments of the provincial states. The coat of arms on the stern isn’t readable and since uniforms weren’t worn in the navy at that time, we can’t be sure if it’s an admiralty craft or not. But the man in the barge has splendid feathers in his hat and shiny buttons aplenty on his chest, suggesting he has some rank and his visit has been of importance.

In the foreground on the left is a pont, a long, flat-bottomed craft used to ferry foot passengers. The ones here watch activities on the yacht or chat among themselves, while the two horses on board appear fascinated by their own reflections in the water. The sail of the pont is almost furled, but there’s enough to pick up a little breeze and the passengers are seemingly content to travel along very slowly. The Dutch colours are wrapped around its pole in the stern, perhaps to keep it from trailing in the water, as the enormous flag on the barge does.

Van de Cappelle was often inaccurate in his depictions of the many vessels he painted, seeing his pictures as harmonious compositions rather than an accurate record, unlike the leading Dutch marine artist Willem van de Velde the Younger. But like all marine artists at the time van de Cappelle painted indoors, using both his sketches and his imagination to craft his marine views. Here, he has lengthened the masts of the boats – they appear even more elegant and stately than they would in reality. The clouds are dark and brooding, contrasting with rather than being reflected in the shimmering water below. He has successfully put the drama and mood of the composition first, leaving total realism to others.