Oil on oak panel, 'Putting to Sea', Wigerus Vitringa, 1695

A little fishing boat coming up alongside a Dutch kaag boat on choppy waters, another small fishing boat closer to the shore at right and several other vessels visible on the horizon with a distant port at right.

Bequeathed by Rev. Chauncy Hare Townshend

Bequeathed by Rev. Chauncy Hare Townshend, 1868
Ref : Parkinson, Ronald, Catalogue of British Oil Paintings 1820-1860. Victoria & Albert Museum, HMSO, London, 1990. p.xix.
'Chauncy Hare Townshend (1798-1868) was born into a wealthy family, only son of Henry Hare Townsend of Busbridge Hall, Godalming, Surrey. Educated at Eton and Trinity Hall, Cambridge (BA 1821). Succeeded to the family estates 1827, when he added 'h' to the Townsend name. He had taken holy orders, but while he always referred to himself as 'Rev.' on the title pages of his books, he never practised his vocation... . Very much a dilettante in the eighteenth-century sense, he moved in the highest social and literary circles; a great friend of Charles Dickens (he was the dedicatee of Great Expectations) with whom he shared a fascination of mesmerism... Bulwer Lytton described his life's 'Beau-deal of happiness' as 'elegant rest, travel, lots of money - and he is always ill and melancholy'. Of the many watercolours and British and continental oil paintings he bequeathed to the V&A, the majority are landscapes. He is the first identifiable British collector of early photographs apart from the Prince Consort, particularly landscape photography, and also collected gems and geological specimens.'

Historical significance: Wigerus Vitringa (1657-1725) was a lawyer and possibly a poet, as well as a painter and draughtsman and his brother was a leading Dutch theologian. He was born and spent his early life in Friesland in the remote north of Holland before moving to Alkmaar. It is not known who might have trained Vitringa as a marine painter, although his drawings and paintings suggest a link with Ludolf Backhuysen. He had a meticulous drawing style, visible for example in his two drawings in the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, and primarily produced images of Dutch merchant and fishing ships near ports. Vitringa joined the guild of St Luke in Alkmaar in 1696, but resigned in 1706 because of illness and impaired vision, which prevented him from practising as an artist, although he is known to have produced works after this date.

Marine paintings present sea subjects with particular attention to ships and shipping. When marine painting emerged as a distinct genre in the 17th-century Dutch Republic, the initial focus was on large, publicly commissioned history paintings commemorating naval engagements against the Spanish and important political and commercial events. The genre was largely developed by Hendrick Vroom and from the 1620s onwards a market developed for smaller marine paintings, by such artists as Porcellis, de Vlieger, van de Cappelle, and van de Velde the younger, whose interests lay primarily in the depiction of atmospheric effects and the behaviour of the sea in various conditions. The Anglo-Dutch Wars (1652-74) revived interest in publicly commissioned historical painting, and after both Willem van de Velde and his son were appointed as painters to Charles II, the market in marine painting moved to London. The early marine paintings of Turner emulated those of the earlier Dutch painters such as van de Cappelle and van de Velde the younger, but Turner's more dramatic vision inspired the next generation of marine artists, and he superseded van de Velde as their model. His influence is apparent in the work of many marine artists, such as Edward William Cooke (1811-80), and Clarkson Stanfield (1793-1867), who continued to flourish in England throughout the 19th century.

Previously ascribed to Willem van de Velde the younger, the signature was revealed when the painting was cleaned in 1964.

Littlefishing boat coming up alongside a Dutch kaag boat on choppy waters, another small fishing boat closer to the shore at right and several other vessels visible on the horizon with a distant port at right. Wigerus Vitringa (1657-1725) was a lawyer and possibly a poet, as well as a painter and draughtsman and his brother was a leading Dutch theologian. He was born and spent his early life in Friesland in the remote north of Holland before moving to Alkmaar. It is not known who might have trained Vitringa as a marine painter, although his drawings and paintings suggest a link with Ludolf Backhuysen. He had a meticulous drawing style, visible for example in his two drawings in the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, and primarily produced images of Dutch merchant and fishing ships near ports. Vitringa joined the guild of St Luke in Alkmaar in 1696, but resigned in 1706 because of illness and impaired vision, which prevented him from practising as an artist, although he is known to have produced works after this date.

1355-1869