Hendrick Cornelisz Vroom, Naval Battle, 17th Century, Oil on Canvas

Hendrik Cornelisz. Vroom (Haarlem, ca. 1562–Haarlem, 1640) “Naval Battle” Attributed oil on canvas first cloth 60cm x 120cm clean and some restorations Vroom was a Dutch Baroque painter, specializing in seascapes, a genre he pioneered in the United Provinces of the Netherlands. After traveling through the Netherlands, around 1585 he embarked in Rotterdam bound for Spain. After passing through Seville he traveled to Italy; he visited Livorno and Florence before arriving in Rome, where he worked for Cardinal Ferdinand I de’ Medici and received lessons from Paul Bril. with him he traveled through Italy to visit Venice, Milan and Turin. Here he met Jan Kraek, of whom he was a student according to Karel van Mander, who wrote a fabled biography of the painter-turned-adventure hero. Around 1587 he went to France. from Marseilles he traveled to Aix-en-Provence, Lyon, Paris and Rouen. He from there to Haarlem where he was back on December 28, 1589 and married. Two years later he traveled to Danzig with his wife to visit his uncle, the architect Fredrik Hendriks Vroom, who instructed him in perspective and, according to Karel van Mander, painted an altarpiece for the Jesuits. Before the end of the year he was again in Haarlem, although for a short time, for in 1592 he left again briefly to travel to London.1 Settling permanently in Haarlem in 1592, he established himself as a marine painter and provided designs for tapestries. In addition, he received in his workshop as apprentices Aert Anthonisz., Nicolaes de Kemp and Jan Porcellis, marine painters and continuers of his style, like his two sons, Cornelis Hendriksz. Vroom and Frederik.1? Vroom’s marinas are characterized by the ordering of color into two bands, the one in the foreground dark, creating the effect of a rough sea, and intensely illuminated in the distance, where the blurred coastline and sky merge. In contrast, the ships, often of war, are painted with detail. On the other hand, the elevated point of view of his early works, with the effect of panoramic vision, ended up being replaced in more advanced works by lower horizons, with a point more natural view. This piece is attributed to the mentioned designer/maker. It has no attribution mark and no
official proof of authenticity,
however it is well documented in design history. I take full responsibility for any authenticity

issues arising from misattribution