Shipwreck

As an eastindiaman founders on the rocks, the crew try to save their lives in the longboats. Meanwhile, three other merchantmen are struggling with the elements as the storm rages and a huge sea creature swims among the ships. Although Dutch vessels regularly met with disaster at sea and some never returned to port, this is not a depiction of an actual event. The scene the artist has invented here is the product of a fertile and dramatic imagination. The three listing vessels form a diagonal line in the composition, creating in a perspective effect. The line of successively smaller ships draws the eye into the far distance.