A State Yacht and Other Craft in Calm Water
by CAPPELLE, Jan van de, Oil on wood, 70 x 92 cm
This type of subject in the oeuvres of Van de Cappelle, Willem van de Velde, and other masters active in the 1650s and 1660s derives from a group of “naval parades” by Simon de Vlieger, and above all from his panel of 1649 in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. In a broad view, the theme of these paintings, which flourished right after the Treaty of M�nster (1648) is peace in the Netherlands after many years of war.