Ludolf Backhuysen

Ludolf Backhuysen painted ships in trouble: rough seas, low grey clouds and vessels heeling under the wind. He was the leading marine painter in Amsterdam in the late seventeenth century, and his storms have a strong, true-to-life feeling for weather and water.

Born in Emden in East Frisia, he moved to Amsterdam and worked as a merchant’s clerk before turning to painting. After the Van de Velde family of marine painters left for England in 1672, he became the city’s top painter of the sea. Visitors to his studio included Cosimo III de’ Medici and Peter the Great. He also painted the Battle of Vigo Bay.

The Rijksmuseum holds his Ships in Distress in a Heavy Storm. In his seascapes, look at the waves and the light on the sails, and the tiny figures struggling on deck.