A comparable picture in the collection of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Stoomvaartmaatschappij, Amsterdam, is signed and dated 1653, and shows the same fortress in the background (L.J. Bol, Die Holländische Marinemalerei des 17. Jahrhunderts, 1973, pp. 165/66, fig. 169). It may be identified as Fort Rammekens on the Isle of Walcheren in the Province of Zeeland on the river Schelde. Fort Rammekens, also named Rammetjes or Zeeburg, was built by Charles V in 1657 to guard the entrance of the harbour of Middelburg, the capital of Zeeland. Its ruins are still to be seen, following the demolition of the fortress by the French in 1811

See colour illustration