Willem van de Velde, 'A Dutch Ship coming to Anchor', 1657

A merchant ship, probably an Indiaman, comes to anchor. After a long and dangerous journey, perhaps to the Far East or the West Indies, the white sails are being lowered one by one. The flag on the foremast suggests that this is the vessel of the vice admiral of a small fleet.

The crew is busy. Vessels gather on either side of the ship to take its cargo ashore – the one in front of it is a kaag, a flat-bottomed vessel designed for inshore transportation of goods and people. The blue and white flag hanging from the spar suggests that the home port of the kaag is Texel, a busy island city in North Holland. The white sail glows in the early morning sun and hangs in elegant, sculptural folds. A man silhouetted against it is starting to hoist a small boat to launch it, ready to row to the Indiaman and its cargo.

Away to the right, a fishing boat sails close to a huge armed merchant ship known as a fluyt, which were sometimes used for whaling. The tall pole – little more than a faint line – attached to the high stern of this one is likely to be the crane for winching whales on board. The sails on both boats hardly register a breeze, suggesting they are almost becalmed.

More small boats on the left move towards the Indiaman, making slow, stately progress in the light breeze. This was a time when everything important to Holland – shipping, fishing, trade, agriculture – was dependent on the weather. Perhaps only painting could continue undisturbed by calm or storm in the multitude of artists’ studios scattered throughout the land. Marine and landscape works like Willem van de Velde’s were sketched in drawings made outdoors, but finished paintings were made inside.

One of these studios was run by Willem van de Velde the Elder, with his sons Willem the Younger and Adriaen. Adriaen was primarily a landscape painter but sometimes added figures to Willem the Younger’s pictures, as in The Shore at Scheveningen, also in the National Gallery’s collection.