Adam Willaerts

Cardinal Howard (Edward Henry Howard, 1829-1892) [according to two old labels on the back of the frame];
George Arnold Hearn, New York;
By whom given to The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1906 (Inv. no. 06.1303).

New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Age of Rembrandt: Dutch Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 18 September 2007 - 6 jauary 2008 (no catalogue).

The George A. Hearn Gift to The Metropolitan Museum of Art in the City of New York in the Year MCMVI, New York 1906, pp. 94-95, reproduced;
K. Baetjer, European Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, by artists born in or before 1865, A Summary Catalogue, New York 1980, Vol. I, p. 197, reproduced Vol. III, p. 368;
K. Baetjer, European Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, by artists born in or before 1865, A Summary Catalogue, New York 1995, p. 298, reproduced;
W. Liedtke, Dutch Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 2007, Vol. II, pp. 944-45, cat. no. 217, reproduced p. 945, plate 217.

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting has not been restored for many years. It is painted on a single piece of oak, which is unbroken. The reverse is not cradled, but has been treated with wax. The paint layer is quite dirty but is stable. The quality and condition of the foreground and details in the ships and trees are extremely good. There are retouches in the sky, particularly in a three inch horizontal band across the top. The center and lower sky show considerably fewer retouches, and the bottom half of the picture essentially has no retouches at all. Although restorations will be required when the picture is cleaned, particularly in the upper sky, the remainder of the painting will respond extremely well and be seen to be in very good condition.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Though born in Antwerp, Willaerts spent most of his life in Utrecht where he is first documented in 1602.  In 1611, he was a founding member of the painter’s guild, the Utrecht Guild of St. Luke, and served as dean numerous times in the 1620s and 1630s.  Willaerts specialized in marines and beach scenes, sometimes depicting historical events or incorporating biblical themes.  His compositions are usually in horizontal format with distant horizon lines and numerous figures in the foreground.  This painting is from comparatively late in Willaert’s career, produced when he was sixty-six.  Painted in a muted palette, it is his use of narrative detail that enlivens the scene: a group of resting travelers at left; a ferry boat at center carrying passengers, two mounted on horseback, along with several sheep; rustic cottages and a windmill along the shore line; and a smalschip flying the Dutch flag at center left that joins a file of smaller and smaller vessels leading the viewer’s eye into the distant horizon.