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The battle of the Texel , 11 August 1673, pencil and wash with pen and brown ink , 27.6 x 42.2cm/107/ s x 16 1/•in. The.final battle of the Third A11glo-Dutch War was an importa11t victory for the Dutch admiral De Ruyter. Although the Dutch were outnumbered , De Ruyter led a fierce onslaught against the French and English ships. Neither side lost a ship, but his action forced the Allies to withdraw from the Dutch coast and put an end to their plans fo r a11 invasion of Holland. In this drawing Van de Ve/de depicts the Royal Prince, marked (a), engaging th e Gouden Leeuw (e). On the right is the E11glish ship St . George (b).
Detail from The Couden Leeuw at the battle of the Texel, 11 August 1673, oil on canvas, 150 x 300cm/59 x IJ8i11. This impressive work, a battle-piece in the grand manner, is one of the fin est of all 111n de Velde's paintings. The perspective and the drawi11g of the ships is extremely accurate and there can be no doubt that the entire picture was carried out by the master without any studio assistance. Th e battle of the Texel was the last g reat sea.fight of the Anglo-Dutch wars. Th e aim of the combined E11glish and French fleets was to draw out the Dutch fleet from its sheltered position behi11d the sandbanks of the Schooneveld anchorage, a11d, ha ving defeated it, to prepare the way for an invasion of Holland from the sea. However the Dutch , led by De Ruyter, put up a tremendous fight . No ships on either side were sunk but the Allied ships were so severely damaged that they were fo rced to retire, leaving the Dutch to claim a strategic victory.
SEA HIS1DRY, WINTER 1984-85
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