Cornelis Leonardsz. Stooter had been strongly influenced by the tonal maritime paintings of Jan Porcellis. By 1650, around which date Stooter painted this work, colour reappeared in his previously basically monochrome grey-brown paintings. Nevertheless he has kept his focus on a cloudy sky, taking ¾ of the composition. 

 

 

Dutch painter

Leyden, circa 1595/1600 – 1655 Leyden

 

Rare marine painter. He is also known to have painted portraits, flower still lifes, landscapes and genre scenes.

 

Our painter was a follower of Jan Porcellis. In January 1629 he sold a house and land to Porcellis, who passed away in 1632; in return Porcellis painted during two weeks for Stooter.

Stooter seems to have remained all his life in his birthplace Leyden. He got married here in 1623 and in 1648 he was elected as the first Dean of the newly founded Painter’s Guild. In later years he was appointed several times again Dean. 

 

Cornelis’s son, Leonard Cornelisz. Stooter (1624/1630 – 1692) was also a marine painter. After his parent’s death in 1655 he moved to Antwerp, where he remained for the rest of his life.

 

 

Stooter regularly signed his works with “STO”. Unsigned works, such as ours, can rather easily be attributed to him, because he regularly re-used successful elements in his paintings; for example the warship in the background, left of the centre.

 

 

Because it is nice example of Dutch marine painting at the middle of the 17th century.