Jan van de Cappelle, 'Vessels Moored off a Jetty', probably 1650-60
About the work
Overview
The sense of activity on the boats and the jetty give a greater sense of movement than in many of Jan van de Cappelle’s paintings. But, as is usual, the sea is flat and calm, giving subtle reflections of the vessels, the clouds and two porpoises swimming calmly on the left.
The pilings by the jetty and closer to us, blackened and dripping with weed, give a sense of age and permanence, almost as if van de Cappelle’s vision of the sea as calm and unthreatening is true. The geometry of their shapes, heavy and firm, is repeated – but with finer, cobwebby lines – by the masts, booms and ropes of the two vessels beyond them.
Sadly the condition of the painting prevents us from seeing the full misty atmosphere the artist intended to evoke through his subtle handling of the colours.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- Vessels Moored off a Jetty
- Artist
- Jan van de Cappelle
- Artist dates
- 1626 - 1679
- Date made
- probably 1650-60
- Medium and support
- oil on wood
- Dimensions
- 35.2 × 42.3 cm
- Acquisition credit
- Presented by the Misses Rachel F. and Jean I. Alexander; entered the Collection, 1972
- Inventory number
- NG6406
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
Provenance
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Neil MacLaren, revised and expanded by Christopher Brown, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School: 1600–1900’, London 1991; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Bibliography
-
1907C. Hofstede de Groot, Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century, 10 vols, London 1907
-
1972A. Smith, 'Presented by the Misses Rachel F. and Jean I. Alexander: Seventeen Paintings for the National Gallery', The Burlington Magazine, CXIV, 1972, pp. 630-4
-
1973The National Gallery, The National Gallery: January 1971 - December 1972, London 1973
-
1991Maclaren, Neil, revised by Christopher Brown, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 1600-1900, 2nd edn (revised and expanded), 2 vols, London 1991
-
2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.