A variety of figures populate this small dune landscape. In the foreground a beggar is asking two approaching riders for some alms. A little further back a hunter is about to shoot an animal he has spotted in the tree. A curious aspect is the sailing boat ...

In the middle distance on the right is a frigate with a Dutch flag at the main. In the left foreground there is a gaff-rigged 'wijdschip' (a small Dutch trnasport vessel). Simon de Vlieger was one of the leading marine painters in the Netherlands in the 1 ...

In the foreground is a 'kaag', a Dutch vessel with a straight raking stem & clinker-built. The ship on the right, a man-of-war, bears the arms of the Province of Holland (the lion rampant) on her stern & a Dutch flag at the main. This picture was paint ...

The man-of-war on the left has Dutch colours. The small boat with her sprit-sail lowered & her sprit nearly horizontal in the left foreground is a 'kaag', a Dutch vessel with a straight raking stem & clinker-built. Close ahead is a small ship, probabl ...

In the centre is a States yacht ('statenjacht', a vessel used by the ' States General', the Dutch chamber of provincial delegates in The Hague) with Dutch colours & the arms of the Province of Holland on her stern. In the right foreground there is a 'kaag' (a Dutch vessel with a straight raking stem & clinker-built). A Dutch ship with the Dutch colours at the main is further away to the left, with a large 'weyschuit' (a Dutch open boat with a straight raking stern, usually rigged with a sprit) in front of her The picture was probably painted, partly by Willem van de Velde the Younger, for the van de Velde family studio. ...

On the right is a States yacht ('statenjacht') with Dutch colours. This type of ship was used to transport members or guests of the States General, the chamber of representatives of the United Provinces in The Hague. On the left another States yacht fires ...

This is the largest & most elaborate painting by Willem van de Velde in the National Gallery's Collection. It is signed inside the wreath on the pennant of the boat in the right foreground, & dated 1661 on the stern of the row-barge to the left. The central vessel is a 'statenjacht' (a vessel used by the Dutch chamber of provincial representative, the States General, to transport its members & visitors) with the arms of the Province of Holland &, above, those of Amsterdam, which are also present on the stern of the row barge alongside. In the left foreground there is another row-barge with the arms of the admiralty. The painting probably represents the departure of admiralty officials on their way from Amsterdam across the Zuiderzee to visit the fleet. ...

The identity of the family has not been established. The youngest child is being pushed along in a 'loopstoel'. The girl on the right plays an instrument which is probably a cittern. The older girl picks roses; because they are the flowers of Venus, the g ...

This portrait of an unidentified family was probably painted in the late 1640s. The parents are seated in the centre while their seven children stand & play around them. They range from the eldest daughter on the right, who appears to be aged seventeen ...

It has been suggested that this portrait shows the family of Vincent Laurensz. van der Vinne (born 1629) on the basis of comparison with a drawing by Leendert van der Cooghen (1610
- 1681) in Berlin. However, the resemblance is very slight & this painting is quite unlike the work of van der Cooghen. The costumes suggest that the painting dates from the 1650s, possibly by an artist familiar with painting in Delft. The only certain record of Michiel Nouts is a signed & dated portrait by him in Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum). A stylistic resemblance between the two portraits forms the basis for the attribution of this one. Before 1900 the picture was cut in half. In 1915, after both halves had entered the collection, they were rejoined, & replacements of missing portions were added at the top, bottom & centre.
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