Art-Van de Velde-Taking the English Royal Prince TB02

Please drop this item in rural or Premium Member Only caches.  Do not drop it in an urban cache or leave it behind at a caching event.  Transport the bug in the original plastic bag for as long as the bag lasts; this prevents the chain and tag tangling with other items.  Otherwise, take this travel bug anywhere you wish.  No permission needed to leave the US.

This is one of a series of travel bugs made to recognize paintings seen, and admired by the bug owner. A digital copy of this painting was downloaded from the internet. The copy was reduced in size and proportions cropped to accommodate the laminating materials available to the owner. Regrettably these processes diminish the effort of the artist. One truly must see the original in person to fully appreciate the work. The text below is a mixture of my own observations and material gleaned from the internet (mostly Wikipedia and Web Gallery).

Willem van de Velde, the Younger (1633-1707), was a painter during the Dutch Golden Age, the 17th century. Prior to this time most patrons of the arts were the church and royalty who largely wanted portraits and paintings with religious or allegorical themes. After the Renaissance, northern Europe became a center of commerce and the middle classes prospered to the point that they wanted art to decorate their homes. And, they had broader tastes is subject matter than institutional patrons. To satisfy the demand, the Dutch and Flemish regions developed an amazing number of artists. Portraiture and religious topics were still important, but landscape, seascape, cityscape, still life and commemorative paintings began to appear.

A son of Willem van de Velde the Elder, also a painter of sea-pieces, Willem van de Velde, the younger, was instructed by his father, and afterwards by Simon de Vlieger, a marine painter of repute at the time. In 1673 he moved to England, where he was engaged by Charles II to aid his father in "taking and making draughts of sea-fights." His part of the work was to reproduce in color the drawings of the elder van de Velde. Most of Van de Velde's finest works represent views off the coast of Holland, with Dutch shipping. The detail in this and his other paintings is phenomenal. His ships are portrayed with almost photographic accuracy. Historians agree his works are the most precise guides available to the appearance of 17th-century ships.

This particular work commemorates the surrender of the English flagship, Royal Prince to the Dutch navy. The event occurred in the Second Anglo-Dutch War during a four-day naval battle from 11 June to 14 June 1666. It remains one of the longest naval engagements in history. Although the Dutch claimed victory, both sides suffered severe losses. But those of the English were greater and included the capture of this and other ships by the Dutch. The painting is in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.