Portrait of an Admiral, traditionally identified as Marten Harpertsz. Tromp (1597-1653), three-quarter length, beside a cannon

Admiral Maarten Harpertsz. Tromp came from a seafaring family and at the age of nine was already at sea on his father's ship, fighting against the Spanish in the Battle of Gibraltar. During his illustrious career, Tromp was captured twice by pirates. In 1639 he defeated a Spanish armada at the Battle of the Downs, and in 1652 he was appointed commander-in-chief. Tromp was killed in 1653 at the Battle of Terheide off the South Holland coast, the eighth and final encounter between the Dutch and English fleets of the first Anglo-Dutch War (1652-1654).