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Lot Essay
This large panel probably depicts the event of 1659 with King Charles II arriving in a carriage and about to embark on the beach of Scheveningen, intending to return in secrecy in order to support a Rebellion against the Parliamentarians.
The assemblage of people on the beach is decidedly more meager than in the versions Beelt painted of King Charles II's embarkation on 24 May 1660 on the same beach that was to take him back to England for the Restoration and which is described by eye-witness Samuel Pepys as the shore being 'so full of people ... as that it was as black (which otherwise is white sand), as every one could stand by another.' In the present lot the crowd on the beach appears to be more involved in their daily activities than the arrival of the carriage. The 1659 Rebellion was uncovered before it got started and the King's departure was cancelled.
The assemblage of people on the beach is decidedly more meager than in the versions Beelt painted of King Charles II's embarkation on 24 May 1660 on the same beach that was to take him back to England for the Restoration and which is described by eye-witness Samuel Pepys as the shore being 'so full of people ... as that it was as black (which otherwise is white sand), as every one could stand by another.' In the present lot the crowd on the beach appears to be more involved in their daily activities than the arrival of the carriage. The 1659 Rebellion was uncovered before it got started and the King's departure was cancelled.