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Lot Essay
Tsar Peter the Great (1672-1725) made a celebrated trip to the Netherlands in 1697, at the age of 25. Travelling incognito as Pieter Michaeloff, he moved into a humble dwelling in Zaandam, the centre of Dutch ship-building, which had been prepared for the young monarch by the Dutchman Gerrit Kist, the Tsar's only confidant amongst the Dutch people. His express purpose was to observe the craft of ship-building as it was practiced by the Dutch, then renowned the world over as shipwrights on the cutting edge of the naval technology so essential to commerce, defense and national prosperity. Accordingly, the day after arriving in Zaandam he signed up in the shipyard as an apprentice capenter. Betrayed, however, by his exceptional height, the Tsar was unable to keep his identity secret and Zaandam was soon swarming with crowds of people intent on seeing the ruler of Muscovy. Within seven days, having relinquished any hope of carrying out his original intention in peace, the Tsar set sail for Amsterdam, where his visit to the city was celebrated with fireworks and jubilation, culminating in a maritime review and a mock sea battle designed to delight the ship-loving young Tsar. The event attracted great crowds, and the inscription accompanying a print recording the event by Caspar Luyken describes 'the mighty roar of guns and the spectators who had come to watch' (see J. Giltaij and J. Kelch, In Praise of Ships and the Sea, Rotterdam and Berlin, 1996, pp. 394-7).
The composition presented here was developed by Abraham Storck immediately after the event, and proved so popular that he painted a number of autograph versions, including pictures in the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, and the Nederlands Scheepvaartsmuseum, Amsterdam; its enduring appeal is evidenced hear in an eighteenth-century version painted by the enigmatic I. de Beer (possibly to be identified with the Joachim de Beer active as an engraver in 1769), who seems to have specialised in seascapes in a the seventeenth-century tradition, including a pair of moonlit river landscapes dated 1750 (Sotheby's, Amsterdam, 5 May 2009, lot 99) and a coastal view with Dutch men-o'-war and bear baiting in the foreground (on loan 1941-1952 to the Centraal Museum, Utrecht, inv. no. 1149; Sotheby's, Amsterdam, 3 May 1999, lot 72). The composition vividly evokes the scene. No fewer than 41 ships took part, and Peter was so delighted by the display that he transferred to a vessel which was constantly in the line of fire. The large yacht in the centre flies the Dutch colours with the East India Company monogram, and was under the command of Gillis Schey, the commander-in-chief; the Tsar stands tall in the vessel on the left, which flies the Russian tricolour with the double-headed eagle. The design of this Russian flag was derived from the Dutch colours, and this occasion was one of the very first on which it was flown.
The composition presented here was developed by Abraham Storck immediately after the event, and proved so popular that he painted a number of autograph versions, including pictures in the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, and the Nederlands Scheepvaartsmuseum, Amsterdam; its enduring appeal is evidenced hear in an eighteenth-century version painted by the enigmatic I. de Beer (possibly to be identified with the Joachim de Beer active as an engraver in 1769), who seems to have specialised in seascapes in a the seventeenth-century tradition, including a pair of moonlit river landscapes dated 1750 (Sotheby's, Amsterdam, 5 May 2009, lot 99) and a coastal view with Dutch men-o'-war and bear baiting in the foreground (on loan 1941-1952 to the Centraal Museum, Utrecht, inv. no. 1149; Sotheby's, Amsterdam, 3 May 1999, lot 72). The composition vividly evokes the scene. No fewer than 41 ships took part, and Peter was so delighted by the display that he transferred to a vessel which was constantly in the line of fire. The large yacht in the centre flies the Dutch colours with the East India Company monogram, and was under the command of Gillis Schey, the commander-in-chief; the Tsar stands tall in the vessel on the left, which flies the Russian tricolour with the double-headed eagle. The design of this Russian flag was derived from the Dutch colours, and this occasion was one of the very first on which it was flown.