Eighty Years War (Dutch War of Independence) (1568-1648)
Contemporary prints and maps of the battles and sieges of the Eighty Years War
View of naval engagement in the Roadstead of the Downs, 1639 (The Downs, England) 51°14ʹ00ʺN 01°26ʹ00ʺE
1639 or laterEtching and engraving; printed from three copperplates on three sheets of paper, joined; mounted on paper (mount cropped, type not known) | 20.1 x 114.3 cm (image) | RCIN 722142.b
Views and a map of the Action of 18 September, (18-21 September 1639), between the Dutch fleet, commanded by Admiral Martin Harpertszoon Tromp (23 April 1598-10 August 1653) and Admiral Witte Corneliszoon de With (28 March 1599-8 November 1658), and the Spanish, commanded by Antonio de Oquendo (October 1577-7 June 1640), with no decisive result. Eighty Years War (1568-1648).
See also RCIN 722142.a.
An example of the right hand plate (map and view of the fleets with triton and sea horses, and lacking the left hand plate, is in the Rijksmuseum (RP-P-0B-81.457).
A very similar design, published in 1643 by Claes Jansz Visscher II, comprises the central map flanked on the left, by the same scene as RCIN 722142.b but with differences in the detail of the foreground design, and with a different scene, with captured, chained Spanish naval officers on the right (Rijksmuseum RP-P-0B-81.461). The accompanying letterpress text to this print in the Rijksmuseum example is also very similar in layout and content to RCIN 722142.d but has a different setting.
Cornelis Danckerts I (c. 1603-1656) (publisher) [bottom right of central map, in rectangular panel:] tot Amsterdam / bÿ Cornelis Danckerts.
Subject(s)
Army-SpainArmy-NetherlandsMartin Harpertszoon Tromp, Adm/Holland and Westfriesland (1598-1653)Witte Corneliszoon de With (1599-1658)Watermark: None visible
Condition: no fold lines; small tear to bottom edge, left
20.1 x 114.3 cm (image)
cropped (platemark)
20.4 x 114.3 cm (sheet)
Printed title:
None
Additional text:
[left, a view of captured Spanish naval officers in chains in the foreground with others being disembarked from a small boat near a pier from which cannon are being fired with the vanquished fleet in the background; in top of view:] VICTORI VREVGHT [bottom right, in rectangular panel, a verse, begins:] Ziet hier de Spaensche Vloot die door des heeren segen / Van twaelf Schepen wiert beuochten en gejaecht …
Additional text:
[centre, flanked by Neptune on the left and Minerva on the right, a small-scale map of the English Channel and the coasts of England and France, showing the positions of the fleets between 15 and 21 September; top left, in cartouche:] Het Canael en de Hoofden tussen Vranckrÿck en / Engelant alwaer vertoont wort d'ontmoeting der / beÿde Scheeps Vlooten en hoe die endling in Duyns / haer bÿ den ander ten ancker leggen. / Representation du Pas de Calais, et premiere ren: / contre des deux Armades Naval. Scale: Scale bar: 3 Duytsche Mylen van 15 in een graet [44 mm =].Additional text:
[A view of the two fleets in the English Channel with the coast of England, from Dover to Sandown Castle and beyond in the background, with a triton with three see horses and Neptune in the foreground; top centre:] N.o B [and, lettered within view:] DVYNS [bottom left, in rectangular panel:] AFBEELDINGE / In wat ordre de Spaensche en / Nederlantsche Vlooten verdeelt / lagen wanneer het Gevecht / soude aengaen.Annotations:
George III heading: Naval Engagement in the Downs Sep.r 1639
Other annotations: none.
George III catalogue entry:
Naval Engagement A View of the position of the Fleets prior to the Naval Engagement in the Downs between the Spanish and Dutch in Sept.r 1639: by Cornelius Bol: with Portraits of Admiral Tromp and Vice Admiral de Wit. 2 sheets. A small Plan of the Straits of Dover with the different positions of the Spanish and Dutch Fleets in Sept.r 1639: with two small views. published by Danckerts. 2 sheets. Descriptions of the Engagement in Latin and Dutch. [The large Print to which the small Views and Descriptions refer is wanting]
Subject(s)
The Downs, England (51°14ʹ00ʺN 01°26ʹ00ʺE)
Bibliographic reference(s)
M. McDonald, The Print Collection of Cassiano dal Pozzo. Part II, Architecture, Topography and Military Maps, 3 vols, London 2019, cat. no. 3049
Page revisions
25 May 2024
Current version
