Johannes Lingelbach

This painting is thought to depict the Battle of Lepanto, one of the largest and most significant sea battles in European history. It took place on 7 October 1571 in the Gulf of Patras, off the western coast of Greece, and was fought between the Christian Holy League (a coalition of Catholic States) and the Ottoman Empire. The battle lasted for 5 hours, involved more than 400 warships, a dozen galleasses (covert galleys with artillery) and over 60,000 men, an unprecedented array of forces for its time. The Holy League's victory was a pivotal achievement in western Christendom, stopping the quickly growing Ottoman Empire from further expanding westward.

This subject proved popular for Johannes Lingelbach, and more than a dozen versions by his hand are known, all differing somewhat in composition and size. It has been suggested that some of these were painted around 1671 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the battle. The present canvas compares closely, for example, to two other signed examples by Lingelbach of the same subject.¹

1. Oil on canvas, 63 by 80.5 cm, sold, London, Sotheby's, 29 April 2015, lot 540; and oil on canvas, 30.5 by 39.5 cm, offered New York, Sotheby's, 27 April 2006, lot 56.