Jan Abrahamsz. Beerstraaten Amsterdam 1622 - 1666

Unidentified French auction catalogue (old photo recorded at the R.K.D.);
With Daan Cevat, Londen/Guernsey, from whom acquired by the late husband of the present owner circa 1965.

Rotterdam, Historisch Museum, Mariniers 1665-1965, 9 December 1965 - 1 February 1966, p. 8, cat. no. 4, reproduced p. 9 (as Johannes Beerstraaten).

The present action is traditionally believed to depict the taking of the fort at Sheerness, on the Isle of Sheppey, on the 10th June 1667 during the "Medway Raid".

The raid on Chatham was a daring enterpise planned by the Grand Pensionary Johan de Witt and supervised by his brother Cornelis de Witt who accompanied the Dutch fleet. It resulted in a catastrophic and embarrasing defeat for the English fleet, the worst the Royal Navy ever suffered, and which resulted in the sinking of at least fifteen ships and the capture of the flagship, the Royal Charles. The raid had a great impact on the English psyche, and hastened the conclusion of the second Anglo-Dutch war at the treaty of Breda in July 1667.

The Dutch navy under the command of the famous admiral Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter, along with a contingent of about a thousand troops from the newly formed and highly disciplined Dutch Marine Corps (then called the "Regiment de Marine" which was created in 1655) first took the fort of Sheerness on the 10th June before slowly sailing up the narrow waters of the Medway River. On the 12th June the Dutch broke the great defensive chain at Gillingham and on the 13th they ravaged the English fleet at Chatham, before calmly sailing down the river on the 14th June.

A dreadful spectacle as ever Englishmen saw, and a dishonour never to be wiped off! - John Evelyn 18 June 1667.

The composition of this painting can be compared with that of a signed work by Beerstraaten, representing A Procession in an Italian City, which was with Nijstad in 1966 (see: L.J. Bol, Die Holländische Marinemalerei des 17. Jahrhunderts, Braunschweig 1973, p. 286, reproduced, p. 290, fig. 291).