Ships in distress off a rocky coast

Julius Porcellis was born in Rotterdam and studied under his father, Jan Porcellis (c.1584-1632), who was widely recognised as one of the most significant marine artists of the seventeenth century. The present panel eloquently demonstrates Julius’ adept assimilation of his father’s most notable contributions to the genre, which also exerted a marked influence on its later leaders, like Simon de Vlieger and Jan van de Cappelle.

Jan Porcellis pioneered the use of a virtually monochromatic, or ‘tonal’, colour palette, made up almost exclusively of greys and light browns, heightened with touches of brilliant white in the crests of breaking waves, and to mark bright sunlight breaking through thick cloud. The focus is shifted from narrative detail to atmospheric impression; the moody tonality of sea and sky and the fantastical rock formation supersede the depiction of the ships themselves, which recede into the background somewhat, no longer the protagonists of the scene.