View of Scheveningen with the embarkation of Charles II for England on 23 may 1660 thumbnail 1
View of Scheveningen with the embarkation of Charles II for England on 23 may 1660 thumbnail 2
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View of Scheveningen with the embarkation of Charles II for England on 23 may 1660

Drawing
02/06/1660 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

The view is from the north, with Scheveningen church and village on the left and the English fleet standing offshore on the right. A procession of carriages and carts makes its way towards the beach, accompanied by large crowds of spectators.

Object details

Category
Object type
TitleView of Scheveningen with the embarkation of Charles II for England on 23 may 1660 (published title)
Materials and techniques
Pen and brown ink, with brown wash; framing line in dark brown ink; the verso rubbed with black chalk and the contours indented with a stylus.
Brief description
Drawing, View of Scheveningen with the Embarkation of Charles II for England on 23 May 1660, by Jan de Bisschop, Dutch School, c.1660
Physical description
The view is from the north, with Scheveningen church and village on the left and the English fleet standing offshore on the right. A procession of carriages and carts makes its way towards the beach, accompanied by large crowds of spectators.
Dimensions
  • Height: 356 mm
  • Width: 514 mm
Style
Production typeUnique
Marks and inscriptions
  • at lower centre, t dorp Schevelingen Aende zee. bij den Hagh: / verbeelt hoe de koning van Engelant Carel d:II · vandeˇ / Engelsche schepen van dese kust wort afgehaelt en weder voor / koning aengenomen wort en vande H. Staten beschonken en uyt gely gedaen 1660

    Translation
    'The village of Scheveningen on the sea near The Hague: represented is how the king of England Charles II was fetched by the English ships from the coast and restored as king, and how the States of H[olland] gave him a present and escorted him, 1660’

  • At lower right, 2nd Huni va[n] bisschop. J: E:––; on verso: by the artist, at centre, in brown ink, Serenissimo, Potentissimo, Invictissimo / principi / CAROLO II, / DEI GRATIA Magnae Britanniae, Franciae et / Hiberniae Regi, Fidei Defensori, &c./ Accipe pacato, Rex Aúgustissime, vúltú. / Vile meúm tenúis quod damm [sic] artis opús. / Ultima quae potúit praestare Batavia Magno / Hospiti, en hic ocúlis conspicienda Tuis. / Illa pio affectu certare, Britannia, tecum / Aúdeat, et Regem numinis instar habet. / Múnera, verba, dapes, tormenta tonantia, pompam / Si quandog. etiam mens simulata dedit / Officio hoc studii núnquam fallentia signa / Exhibet, et pandit pectora tota Tibi. / Qúae si res animi divinâ in sede recepta est / Dent pictúrae aliqúem serinia sacra locum / J. Episcopius

    Translation
    Accompanied by English translation in a later hand: ‘To the most serene, powerful, and unconquered / chief / CHARLES IInd / By the grace of God King of Great Britain, France, and / Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c./ Accept with a pleasant countenance, most august King, / my humble work of indifferent art (done) in a peculiar manner, / (the best) which Ultima Batavia could furnish to you, her distinguished / guest; lo! Here to be seen with thine eyes. / She (Batavia) may presume to vie with thee, Britannia, / in devout attachment, for the even esteems thy King like a Divinity. / If at any time even pretended affection offered gifts, / speeches, banquets, thundering cannons, (and) pageantry, she (Batavia) / by this her service shews the sincerest tokens of her / devotion, and throws open her whole heart to thee. / And, if this act has been received in the innermost disposition of the / soul, let your safest repositories afford sufficient keeping-room for / this picture.–– / J. Episcopius’).'


Gallery label
This view shows Charles II and his fleet preparing to leave the Dutch Republic for England, after nine years of exile. Bisschop was a skilled amateur draughtsman who observed the scene. One eyewitness commented ‘never have more people been seen together in Holland.’ The detailed drawing, which may have been presented to Charles II, is based on the numerous studies Bisschop made that day.
Object history
Presumably given by the artist to Charles II (ruled 1660–85), King of England and Scotland; John Drayton Wyatt (1820–91), London, 1869, by whom bequeathed to the museum (dry stamp version of L. 1958), 24 June 1891.
Place depicted
Bibliographic reference
Jane Shoaf Turner and Christopher White, Catalogue of Dutch and Flemish Drawings in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 2014, vol. I, Cat. no. 21, illus. pp. 22-3.
Collection
Accession number
D.468-1891

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Record createdJune 30, 2009
Record URL
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