This picture is sold with a photocopy of a certificate by Professor Laurens J. Bol, dated 16 June 1987, confirming the attribution to Blankerhoff and pointing out that it is a variant of the artist's signed picture of the same subject in the Town Hall at Hoorn, for which he was paid 800 guilders in 1663 (L.J. Bol, Die Holländische Marinemalerei des 17. Jahrhunderts, Brunswick, 1973, pp. 208-9, pl. 213).

While the positions of the large ships are similar in the two paintings, in all other respects they differ considerably. The archaic vessels depicted in the Hoorn picture have been updated, the smaller craft in the foreground are completely different and the strong colouration of the present painting contrasts with the monochromacity of the picture of 1663, which is a late example of a 'tonal' marine.

The battle, which took place off Enkhuizen, was a turning point in the Dutch War of Independance. Admiral Bossu, whose flagship "De Inquisitie" is represented in the centre surrounded by the Dutch fleet, was defeated and Amsterdam consequently joined the Dutch Free States