Seascape With Ships, Attributed To Julius Porcellis (rotterdam 1610 – 1645 Leiden)

Julius Porcellis (Rotterdam 1610 – 1645 Leiden), attributed

Seascape with Ships

Oil on wood panel (oak)
52 x 84 cm. – In a gilded wooden frame, 77 x 108 cm.

Full details of the painting (click HERE)

The painting on display depicts a striking seascape in a storm: the churning sea crashes against a rocky cliff while several vessels, including a small fishing boat near the shore and a merchant ship offshore, attempt to continue their course despite the weather conditions.

A typical subject of Baroque painting, the fury of the sea was a very popular theme, especially in 17th-century Dutch art, capable of representing the power of nature in a dynamic, exciting, and dramatic way.

The ships’ resistance against the waves—where we can imagine the crew struggling to maintain control—was intended as a metaphor for life, indicating a close yet vulnerable interrelationship with the forces of nature, often in contrast to human fragility.

The work features a painterly style and compositional choices that, in our view, clearly point to the hand of Julius Porcellis (Rotterdam 1610 – Leiden 1645), a painter of the Dutch Golden Age specializing in seascapes and the son of Jan Porcellis (1584–1632), by whom he was trained and under whose influence he remained throughout his life.

Even during the 17th and 18th centuries, art connoisseurs found it difficult to distinguish between the father’s work and that of the son.

As can be seen in many of his seascapes, Porcellis depicted the stormy sea crashing against a high rocky formation. The three-masted ship in the distance, known as a pinnacle, with its sails lowered to protect them from the stormy winds, is also a signature feature of his work.

Our painting can be compared, for example, to the painting “Fishing Boat in Rough Seas,” held at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich (1). It can also be compared to the “Expedition in Rough Seas” at the Kingston Lacy Estate in Dorset (2), or to a work housed at the Lakenhal Museum in Leiden (3). Julius Porcellis’s paintings are relatively rare, especially on the antique market; we can mention the work “Ships in Distress Off a Rocky Coast,” which sold at Christie’s on December 8, 2023 (4).

(1) https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-12209
(2) https://www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/object/1257056
(3) https://www.lakenhal.nl/nl/collectie/b-1134
(4) https://www.christies.com/lot/lot-6458331?utm_source=mutualart&utm_medium=referral

This view is typical of the master, with his classic compositional style that made him highly regarded both at home and abroad, promoting a new style and subject in marine painting by focusing on cloudy skies and choppy waters.

Porcellis’s contribution to Dutch art also lies in his emphasis on the effects of light: the composition is in fact enveloped in a strong luminosity, with a sky laden with clouds from which flashes of light radiate, reflecting off the water and illuminating the foaming waves, bringing out the three-dimensionality of the painting.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The painting is sold complete with an attractive frame and comes with a certificate of authenticity and a descriptive iconographic sheet.

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If you would like to view this or other works in person, we would be delighted to welcome you to our new gallery in Riva del Garda, at Viale Giuseppe Canella 18. We look forward to seeing you!
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