Battle of Texel (Slag bij Kijkduin), August 21st, 1673

By Willem van de Velde, the Younger. 1673-1707

The full name of this painting is “Nightly Fighting Between Cornelis Tromp on the ‘Gouden Leeuw’ and Sir Edward Spragg on the ‘Royal Prince’ During the Battle of Texel (Kijkduin) on August 21, 1673: Episode From the Third Anglo-Dutch War (1672-74)”. In this batlle the Dutch navy fought the combined force of the Royal Navy and the French Fleet, the alliance brought by the Treaty of Dover. French King Louis XIV invaded the Dutch Republic in 1672 seeking to gain control over the Spanish Netherlands. A secret treaty with King Charles II pulled England into the conflict and started the third Anglo-Dutch War.

The picture displays an episode from the Battle of Texel with Dutch ships in their failed attempt to capture the English flagship ‘Royal Prince’ (in the center). In this engagement the flagship of the Dutch admiral Cornelis Tromp the ‘Gouden Leeuw’ has been badly damaged and is seen sinking to the right of the ‘Prince‘.

The painting is exhibited in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam.