Willem van Diest

A Naval Battle

This naval battle is a masterpiece by Willem van Diest, the founder of a dynasty of marine artists spanning three generations. Van Diest’s vast scene clearly depicts a battle between Dutch and English vessels. There are good reasons to assume that the artist represented an episode from the First Anglo Dutch War, probably the Battle of Dungeness 30 November 1652. That would make it the earliest depiction of a sea battle between the Dutch and English fleets.