Gevecht tussen de admiraalsschepen Aemelia van Tromp en de Santa Teresa van De Oquendo tijdens de slag bij Duins, 1639 1642 - 1665

Curator: This engraving, likely dating between 1642 and 1665, depicts a pivotal naval engagement: The Battle of the Downs, fought in 1639. The piece captures the clash between Dutch and Spanish vessels. Editor: There's an intensity, wouldn't you say? The black and white, the lines… the ships, practically bristling with… meaning, with intention. It makes me feel like the air itself is thick with anticipation of cannons! Curator: Absolutely! Naval battles, especially those rendered during the Baroque period, frequently aimed for just that intensity. Observe the symbolic weight given to the ships. Here we have, in particular, a clash between the Aemelia and the Santa Teresa, captained by figures considered emblematic for their nations at the time, Tromp, for the Dutch, and De Oquendo for Spain. Each ship is essentially a floating emblem of its respective country. Editor: Emblems indeed! Look at all those details… each line of rigging seems deliberate. I keep wondering what those sailors felt facing a spectacle both beautiful and horrifying. It must have seemed apocalyptic, and this print distills that feeling, all the terror and the glory, into this monochrome image. Curator: Baroque art, including engravings like these, had a profound fascination with drama and grandeur. But even further, and on a more historical note, you could consider it from the Dutch perspective at the time as representing newfound independence on the sea. The image here certainly reflects and celebrates it. Editor: Exactly! There’s that undeniable charge! A feeling of something new, something decisive happening. Almost like the print itself is firing a salvo across the water. To me, the visual language makes it still feel contemporary. The artist has achieved that, by capturing the human aspect beyond the grand narrative of two battling armadas, to leave us an enduring tale of change, and conflict. Curator: It resonates, doesn't it? To think of an anonymous artist preserving a nation’s psyche through graphic artistry! Editor: Leaving future audiences a reflection into a specific moment. How can we not be deeply moved?