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Willem van de Velde, 'A Dutch Vessel in a Strong Breeze', about 1670

About the work

An angry tide surges around two small transport boats heading for disaster under a stormy sky. The crew of the kaag, desperate to avoid collision with the fast approaching smalschip, have released the horizontal spar to take the wind out of the mainsail. This way, the vessel will slow and – with luck – pass safely behind the smaller craft. A smaller open boat heads towards them, two men pointing at the impending catastrophe.

The sideways sweep of the three vessels and their converging diagonal lines strengthen the tension. A weak beam of sunlight illuminates the sail of the kaag; it highlights the drama but, together with the flag still flying at the masthead, perhaps also suggests a ray of hope in a pitiless sea. Such pictures were popular in seventeenth-century Holland because they were exciting, but they were also a reminder of the dangers encountered by the hundreds of mariners who were an important part of the country’s prosperity.

Key facts

Full title
A Dutch Vessel in a Strong Breeze
Artist
Willem van de Velde
Artist dates
1633 - 1707
Date made
about 1670
Medium and support
oil on canvas
Dimensions
23.2 × 33.2 cm
Inscription summary
Signed
Acquisition credit
Bequeathed by Lord Farnborough, 1838
Inventory number
NG150
Location
Not on display
Collection
Main Collection
Previous owners

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.

More works by Willem van de Velde

(Showing 6 of 17 works)
A Dutch Ship and Other Small Vessels in a Strong Breeze
A Dutch Ship and Other Small Vessels in a Strong Breeze
Willem van de Velde
A warship keels over in the face of an advancing storm, a Dutch flag flying boldly at its mainmast, the arms of the Province of Holland on its stern. The gun ports are open, the cannon out at the ready – probably for practice. A small fishing boat is tossed about on the crest of the wash left beh...
Not on display
A Dutch Ship coming to Anchor
A Dutch Ship coming to Anchor
Willem van de Velde
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 an...
Not on display
A Dutch Ship, a Yacht and Smaller Vessels in a Breeze
A Dutch Ship, a Yacht and Smaller Vessels in a Breeze
Willem van de Velde
Small waves scud across the sea, the boats running before the stiff breeze. In the centre, its white sail straining, is a Statenjacht (state yacht), a vessel used by the ‘States General’, the Dutch chamber of provincial delegates in The Hague. It flies the Dutch colours and the arms of the Provin...
Not on display
A Dutch Yacht saluting
A Dutch Yacht saluting
Willem van de Velde
This is the largest and most elaborate of the pictures by Willem van de Velde the Younger in the National Gallery’s collection. Painted with the artist’s usual accuracy and fine detail, the depiction of a marine occasion fairly common in a seafaring nation like seventeenth-century Holland becomes...
Not on display
A Small Dutch Vessel close-hauled in a Strong Breeze
A Small Dutch Vessel close-hauled in a Strong Breeze
Willem van de Velde
An angry light breaks through threatening clouds, illuminating a wave that beats up against the side of a galjoot, the small boat keeling over with the wind. An explosion of white spray looks almost as if it is reaching up to swallow the man hauling in the foresail. The blue and white flag at the...
Not on display
An English Vessel and Dutch Ships Becalmed
An English Vessel and Dutch Ships Becalmed
Willem van de Velde
In this picture, Willem van de Velde the Younger displays his skills as an exceptionally gifted painter of ships. Each vessel here is accurately depicted. An English ketch in the foreground flies the flag of Saint George, and a weyschuit (a small open boat) moves almost alongside it. To the left,...
Not on display
Boats pulling out to a Yacht in a Calm
Boats pulling out to a Yacht in a Calm
Willem van de Velde
During the seventeenth century, the Dutch Republic was frequently at war, often with England. It’s possible that this is a picture of a fleet preparing for battle.The sea is quiet, but there is a sense of urgency in the scene. A crowd of small boats pull out from the shore, the men rowing powerfu...
Not on display
Dutch Ships and Small Vessels Offshore in a Breeze
Dutch Ships and Small Vessels Offshore in a Breeze
Willem van de Velde
High, scudding clouds and a restless sea bring a feeling of freshness to Willem van de Velde’s painting. Two lowered white sails seem to tumble towards the water, and echo the froth on the tops of the waves. The breeze is almost palpable, with spars, masts and vessels all leaning at different ang...
Not on display
Dutch Ships in a Calm
Dutch Ships in a Calm
Willem van de Velde
This exquisite little picture evokes the tranquillity of the early morning, perhaps – judging by the low, clear light and puffiness of the clouds – at the beginning of spring. The reflections in the calm water are perfect, undisturbed by the porpoises in the shadows. Two fishing boats appear on t...
Not on display
Dutch Vessels Inshore and Men Bathing
Dutch Vessels Inshore and Men Bathing
Willem van de Velde
High, light clouds drift across the wide sky. All seems quiet at the end of the day. A man with a fishing basket strapped to his back squelches across the wet sand left by the ebbing tide, and the sun is still warm enough for a group of men and boys to skinny-dip in the shallow water. Clothes are...
Not on display
Dutch Vessels lying Inshore in a Calm, one Saluting
Dutch Vessels lying Inshore in a Calm, one Saluting
Willem van de Velde
Willem van de Velde, usually so interested in the detailed depiction of individual vessels, seems to be more concerned in this painting with atmosphere and the emotion evoked by a view of the sea in the evening light. The warm glow of a low sun casts the vessels close to us into shadow, leaving t...
Not on display
Small Dutch Vessels Aground at Low Water in a Calm
Small Dutch Vessels Aground at Low Water in a Calm
Willem van de Velde
Four small boats are gently run aground in an inlet on a sandy shore. The tide is out, the sea is calm and a man with a basket wades into the picture. Some fishermen are barefoot, others tend their craft without hurry. Sails hang up to dry in the sun and the Dutch flags on the mast tops droop. In...
Not on display
The Shore at Scheveningen
The Shore at Scheveningen
Willem van de Velde
A brisk wind brings a small fleet of fishing pinks to shore, tossed and buffeted by the choppy waves. A fitful sun breaks through the fast moving clouds. It lights up the long curve of the wide bay and the high dunes, but there’s a sense of mistiness, suggesting a fine spray from the sea and sof...
Not on display
Three Ships in a Gale
Three Ships in a Gale
Willem van de Velde
The merchant ships we see here are in some peril. The wind is so strong that they have been forced to take down their sails and are drifting at the mercy of the gale and the surging sea. Our attention is focused on the nearest ship, a man-of-war, as it ploughs into a breaking wave. A sudden shaft...
Not on display
Two Small Vessels and a Dutch Man-of-War in a Breeze
Two Small Vessels and a Dutch Man-of-War in a Breeze
Willem van de Velde
Willem van de Velde was the leading Dutch marine painter of the later seventeenth century. This is one of his smallest paintings – it’s only about the size of a sheet of A4 paper.In the foreground, two boats known as kagen speed shorewards before a stiff breeze. These were sturdy, flat-bottomed v...
Not on display
Calm: Two Dutch Vessels
Calm: Two Dutch Vessels
Studio of Willem van de Velde
The low horizon gives a vast sky – very much how a sailor in a small boat at sea experiences the world. But the men working on the vessels seem unconcerned with the view: these are inshore working craft.In the centre is a smalschip, a transport vessel carrying a Dutch ensign. Beached on the spit...
Not on display
Small Dutch Vessels in a Breeze
Small Dutch Vessels in a Breeze
Studio of Willem van de Velde
Two sailing boats – a flat-bottomed kaag and smaller, more open weyschuit, which had a similar rig – are shown in the foreground. They appear to be at the mouth of a harbour or estuary. One sails towards and the other away from a black buoy. This is a similar composition to another van de Velde p...
Not on display
You've viewed 6 of 17 works