A Dutch Ship, a Yacht and Smaller Vessels in a Breeze

Small waves scud across the sea, the boats running before the stiff breeze. In the centre, its white sail straining, is a Statenjacht (state yacht), a vessel used by the ‘States General’, the Dutch chamber of provincial delegates in The Hague. It flies the Dutch colours and the arms of the Province of Holland on the stern. To the right is a kaag, an inshore vessel with a flat bottom often used as a ferry. A merchant ship with the Dutch colours on the mainmast leans with the wind further away to the left.Willem van de Velde the Younger probably collaborated on the picture for the family studio where he worked alongside his father, Willem the Elder, and his younger brother Adriaen.