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| Harbor Scene: An English Ship with Sails Loosened Firing a Gun |
Artist:Peter Monamy (British, London 1681–1749 London)
Medium:Oil on canvas
Dimensions:48 x 59 in. (121.9 x 149.9 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:Gift of William P. Clyde, 1960
Accession Number:60.94.2
Catalogue Entry
Formerly assigned to Willem van de Velde the Younger (1633–1707), this painting was reattributed in 1973 to Peter Monamy, known for his marine paintings, who may have been associated with the Van de Velde studio. One of Van de Velde’s autograph late works, signed and dated 1703 (National Maritime Museum, Greenwich), illustrates a similar ship and displays the greater variety and facility of that artist’s figural style, so different from what is seen here. The attribution to Monamy, suggested in 1963, was reaffirmed several times by M. S. Robinson (1963, 1964, 1971), formerly Curator of Paintings at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich. He pointed out that Willem the Younger died in 1707, well before the accession of George I in 1714 and the adoption of the royal Hanoverian standard with the running white horse, which is depicted here.
The three-decker ship flies the admiralty flag at the fore and the Union flag at the mizzen in addition to the Hanoverian standard at the main. The crimson flag of the lord high admiral would have been understood at the time as a potent symbol of the British claim to sovereignty of the seas. Although the stern of the great vessel is similar to that of the Royal William, that ship cannot be identified with certainty as the one shown here because it was laid up throughout the period under consideration. Robinson (1971) believed that Monamy had been inspired instead by the putting to sea of the new Britannia in 1734.
The flagship depicted fires a salute to port, while a barge pulls away under its stern. The orderly repetition of the rowers suggests the precise timing that would have been expected of them, but their identical silhouettes—practically a Monamy trademark—show a certain lack of imagination. The composition is typical, as is the profile of the ship’s stern against the white plumes of smoke. A similar painting by Monamy (private collection), with the stern of the same ship and a royal yacht moving away, was exhibited at Leggatt Brothers, London, in 1970.
[2010; adapted from Baetjer 2009]
Copyright Image
https://images.metmuseum.org
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