Portrait of the ‘Swiftsure’, 64-guns, built in 1621 and rebuilt in 1653

The ‘Swiftsure’, viewed from slightly before the starboard beam. Her rail shows signs of damage. She was taken by the Dutch at the Four Days’ Battle in 1666 and added to their navy as the ‘Oudshoorn’.

The drawing is inscribed ‘de swifsieure / bij [? legen] vewallen’ (The damaged ‘Swiftsure’). It is one of the drawings used by van de Velde the Younger for the painting of the captured English ships in Dutch waters after the Four Days’ Battle. (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Inv. No. A439).

This is an unsigned offset and pencil work by the Elder, which has been rubbed on the back. One of the sketches used for the painting of the ‘Swiftsure’ and other captured ships brought into the Wielings after the Four Days’ Battle, 1666, of which there is a version in Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (2471).

Object Details

ID: PAJ2432
Type: Drawing
Display location: Not on display
Creator: Velde, Willem van de, the Elder
Vessels: Swiftsure (1621)
Date made: 1666
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, Caird Collection
Measurements: Sheet: 309 x 758 mm; Mount: 718 mm x 1090 mm