Shipwreck in a Storm
(Baroque Europe )
Van Diest's seascapes are full of vivid details, for example, the figures clinging to the wreckage as ships break up in a violent storm. Protestant sermons and popular literature urged the Dutch to see moral lessons in nature and everyday life. Whether a shopkeeper or ship owner, someone seeing such a painting in a home might well reflect upon the soul on its journey through a life fraught with dangers. The foundering ship flies an English flag-the Cross of St. George-perhaps a reference to Holland's great maritime rival.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
Don Marcello Massarenti Collection, Rome; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1902, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Exhibitions
1993 | A Renaissance Puzzle: Heemskerck's Abduction of Helen. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
1990-1991 | Mirror of Empire: Dutch Marine Art of the Seventeenth Century. Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis. |
Geographies
Netherlands, The Hague (Place of Origin)
Measurements
19 5/16 x 28 1/4 in. (49 x 71.7 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters with the Massarenti Collection, 1902
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
37.877