Jeronymus van Diest

Anonymous sale, Amsterdam, Frederik Muller & Co., 25 April 1911, lot 179 (as J. van Diest);
Anonymous sale, Amsterdam, Sotheby Mak van Waay, 27 October 1964, lot 83 (as W. van Diest);
Anonymous sale, Amsterdam, Sotheby Mak van Waay, 30 October 1979, lot 29 (as Possibly Jan van Diest);
Anonymous sale, New York, Christie’s, 18 January 1984, lot 140;
There acquired by the late collector.

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This work has not been recently restored. The canvas has a lining applied with wax. This lining is quite easily reversible, which would eliminate the raised cracking to the surface. There is an L-shaped break in the canvas in the upper right sky that runs about 6 inches, but the condition throughout all of the vessels, sky and water is remarkably good. The darker colors have become milky because of a bloomed varnish, but the rigging and all of the details are in lovely state. Natural cracking to the paint layer in the sky is quite visible, but this would be resolved if the lining were changed.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

This impressive canvas illustrates one of the last major skirmishes of the First Anglo-Dutch War: the Battle of Scheveningen (10 August 1653), also known as the Battle of Texel or Terheide.  In the left foreground, Dutch Admiral Maarten Harpertszoon Tromp’s flagship, the Brederode, engages in crossfire with English General George Monk’s flagship, the Resolution.  Although both of the heavily damaged fleets claimed victory, Admiral Tromp would be mortally wounded early in combat.  His death and the ensuing blow to the Dutch navy gave the English leverage at ensuing peace conferences, which ultimately led  to the Treaty of Westminster and the end of the First Anglo-Dutch War in April 1654.