Ships in Distress in a Heavy Storm Canvas Print

canvas prints boat canvas prints ships canvas prints sailboats canvas prints schooners canvas prints ships at sea canvas prints seascape canvas prints disaster at sea canvas prints sea canvas prints ocean canvas prints ship canvas prints mast canvas prints storm canvas prints storm at sea canvas prints dark clouds canvas prints people canvas prints

photographs boat photos ships photos sailboats photos schooners photos ships at sea photos seascape photos disaster at sea photos sea photos ocean photos ship photos mast photos storm photos storm at sea photos dark clouds photos people photos

Add This Artwork to Your Favorites Collection

Comment

Add This Artwork to Your Favorites Collection

Comment

Ships in Distress in a Heavy Storm by Ludolf Backhuysen, 1690

The three cargo ships in this large painting are the type of wide-bellied, seagoing vessels used to transport much of the commodities that generated the wealth of the Dutch in the seventeenth century. Flying the red, white, and blue flag of the Dutch Republic, these floating symbols of national prosperity are nevertheless in peril of crashing on the rocky shore. Each ship has already lost a mast, and flotsam bobbing in the steely gray water in the foreground reveals that at least one ship has been wrecked. All is not yet lost, as the sun’s golden rays break through the ominous clouds—a signal to the struggling sailors that the storm is about to abate. The subject serves as a reminder that our earthly existence is fleeting. Although realistic in appearance, the painting combines elements that Backhuysen repeated often in his theatrical compositions. The complex shapes, sharp contrasts of light and shadow, ragged ro...