1844, J.M.W. Turner, Van Tromp, Going About to Please His Masters, Ships a Sea, Getting a Good Wetting (detail) -- Getty Museum (Los Angeles)
From the museum label: Turner was a student of military history and a lover of seventeenth-century Dutch marine painting. This turbulent seascape depicts a turning point in the career of Dutch naval officer Cornelis Tromp (1629-1691), who had been dismissed from service under suspicion of insubordination and conspiracy before being reinstated by the Admiralty. Raising his hat in salute, he is shown "going about," a symbolic sailing maneuver indicating that he has made peace with his superiors and is ready to pursue a new tack. Despite the churning seas, whose force is conveyed by Turner's bold, liberated technique, Tromp executes this maneuver with great panache.
1844, J.M.W. Turner, Van Tromp, Going About to Please His Masters, Ships a Sea, Getting a Good Wetting (detail) -- Getty Museum (Los Angeles)
From the museum label: Turner was a student of military history and a lover of seventeenth-century Dutch marine painting. This turbulent seascape depicts a turning point in the career of Dutch naval officer Cornelis Tromp (1629-1691), who had been dismissed from service under suspicion of insubordination and conspiracy before being reinstated by the Admiralty. Raising his hat in salute, he is shown "going about," a symbolic sailing maneuver indicating that he has made peace with his superiors and is ready to pursue a new tack. Despite the churning seas, whose force is conveyed by Turner's bold, liberated technique, Tromp executes this maneuver with great panache.