The Battle on the Slaak between the Dutch and Spanish Fleets during the Night of 12-13 September 1631 1633

Simon de Vlieger painted this canvas depicting a 1631 naval battle between the Dutch and Spanish. The techniques here are those of traditional easel painting, and the artist's hand is evident in the brushwork. But consider for a moment what this image really shows. The Dutch Golden Age was a time of massive expansion in global trade, and military conflict was simply the continuation of commerce by other means. The timber to build these ships came from somewhere, felled by anonymous laborers; the canvas sails woven from fibers cultivated and spun, and the ropes braided. De Vlieger may have been thinking of the aesthetic effect of the image, with its cloudy sky and dramatic incident. Yet the scene is also a testament to the vast, unacknowledged networks of production that made the Dutch Republic the supreme economic power of its day. That context, that world of making, is part of the image too.