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Beyond several craggy boulders that loom in the lower left corner of this horizontal painting, three sailing ships pitch wildly in crashing waves beneath towering clouds. At the center, a large ship tips sharply to our right with billowing ivory sails and two red, white, and blue striped flags whipping in the wind. White spray kicks up against the side of the boat and in the waves surrounding it. The sails of the second ship, to our right, are furled except for one that crashes down onto the deck. Tiny people scurry around inside the ship, which tilts steeply up on a high wave. The third…

Ships in Distress off a Rocky Coast

Ludolf Backhuysen (Dutch, 1630 - 1708)

1667 · oil on canvas

National Gallery of Art · Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund

Public domain (NGA Open Access, CC0)

About this work
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