17th century Flemish and Dutch paintings

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Jacob Feyt de Vries
A Dutch whaling fleet
Oil on panel : 41,9 X 69,8 cm
Signed with a monogram on the floating spar lower right “IDV”
Greenwich, National Maritime Museum

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Painting for Sale
In short
 
Jacob Feyt de Vries was active in Amsterdam during the middle of the 17th century. Our painting shows Dutch Men-of-War beating Spanish galleys. It must represent the second day of the Battle of the Dover Straits, which was fought along the Flemish coast between Dunkirk and Nieuwpoort in 1602.
 
About Jacob Feyt de Vries
 
Dutch painter of German origin.
Born circa 1620 in Tönning in German Nord Frisia (some 60 km from the Danish border).
 
De Vries must have lived in or near Amsterdam between circa 1640 and circa 1660. He married here and had a child in 1644.
 
Jacob Feyt de Vries is a very rare painter, whom little to nothing is known about. Some of his paintings are monogrammed “IFDV”. There is only one fully signed and dated painting known, from 1652.
 
His paintings can be mistaken for the works of three other artists who were also active in Amsterdam around the middle of the 17th century: Reinier Nooms (named Zeeman, 1623/24 – 1664), Claes Claesz. Wou (1592 – 1665) and Pieter Cornelisz. van Soest (active in Amsterdam 1642 – 1667).
 
About the Battle of the Dover Straits
 
The Italian naval commander Frederico Spinola, who was in Spanish Habsburg service, had proposed to King Philip III to launch from Flanders an invasion of England with a fleet of galleys. 
 
A first fleet of six galleys under his command reached Sluis in 1599. In 1602 a second fleet, also under his command, left for Sluis. But they were already intercepted in June near Lisbon by an English fleet during the Battle of Sesimbra Bay: two galleys were sunk.
 
Octobre 3rd the six remaining Spanish galleys sailed close to the English coast at night, where they were attacked by the English. They retreated onto the Flemish coast, where a Dutch fleet under Vice-Admiral Jan Cant waited for them: two more galleys were sunk, a third one which had escaped to the French port of Calais, was burned there. Spinola reached Sluis with his three remaining galleys. In May 1603 he engaged battle with a Dutch fleet: Spinola was deadly wounded and his fleet fled into the harbour of Sluis. In 1604 Sluis was taken by the Dutch.
 
Clearly the English and Dutch sailing ships (galleons, galiots and carracks) were superior in the North Sea against the Mediterranean galleys.
 
The Action in our painting should be identified as the attack of the Dutch fleet under Jan Cant onto Frederico Spinola’s Spanish galleys off the Flemish coast near Dunkirk and Nieuwpoort. This happened on Octobre 4th 1602, that is the second day of the Battle of the Dover Straits.
 
The next year, in the Battle of Sluis, the Dutch also used two galleys, which one can not identify in our painting.
 
Why should you buy this painting?
 
Because it shows an important early 17th century victory of Dutch frigates over Spanish galleys. 
Comparative paintings
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