A Storm at Sea Before 1612
Oil on panel | 41.4 x 124.5 x 1.2 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 402633
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This panel is one of a set of three sea-pieces, illustrating a storm (this one), a night-battle (CW 149, 402744) and ‘how the ships sail with a fair wind’ (this one thus described in 1613 has not survived). Their format suggests that they were originally intended as over-doors. The remaining pair are the earliest surviving works of Porcellis: they must have been painted before 1612 (the year Henry, Prince of Wales, died). They show him working in the precise anecdotal style of ship-illustration, which he learned from Hendrick Cornelis Vroom. At either side, a rocky coastline with a derelict tower; in the foreground, a small three-master, which has lost its mainmast and a large fish spouting water; behind, other storm-tossed ships; the ship in the centre carries a Dutch flag.
Provenance
In the collection of Henry, Prince of Wales whose brand appears on the back of the panel; sold from Oatlands for £6 to Stone and others on 23 October 1651 (no 45); recovered and the Restoration and listed in the King's Gallery at Hampton Court in 1666 (no 108)
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Medium and techniques
Oil on panel
Measurements
41.4 x 124.5 x 1.2 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external)
25.8 x 135.0 x 3.5 cm (frame, external)
Category
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