The Battle of Scheveningen, 31 July 1653: the last pass in the battle, 1653 (graphite,...

Creator: Willem van de Velde, the Elder The Battle of Scheveningen was the last engagement of the First Anglo-Dutch War. The death of the Dutch commander-in-chief, Marten Tromp, early in the battle, led to confusion in the Dutch fleet, which was heavily defeated, though the English fleet also had to return to refit. This was the first battle at which van de Velde the Elder was certainly present in his galjoot (a kind of small Dutch coasting vessel), in which he shows himself in his pen-painting of the battle BHC0277. The drawing is annotated by van de Velde in Dutch 'de Leste charsije tegenover' [altered from 'ontrent'] 'de Middach sijnde ontrent 2 urren' [altered from 'de Vier urren'] '& verliet tromp de groote steng ontrent middachs'