Four Sailing Vessels near a Breakwater 1635 - 1670

Reinier Nooms created this etching of four sailing vessels near a breakwater sometime in the mid-seventeenth century. It depicts ships flying the Dutch flag, a symbol of the Netherlands’s burgeoning maritime power during its Golden Age. Nooms, who was also a sailor, brings an insider’s perspective to the visual language of Dutch seafaring. The image not only celebrates Dutch naval prowess but also tacitly acknowledges the complex socio-economic underpinnings of this dominance. During this time, the Dutch East India Company, for example, was at the height of its power, and it was the first multinational corporation issuing stocks. To understand this work more deeply, we can turn to sources, like the company’s records, to understand its full impact. In this way, we can interpret the meaning of art as something contingent on social and institutional context.