Lot 1285 Dα

Arnold Houbraken describes Jacob Bellevois as a “brave marine painter and painter of the still sea“, whose seascapes were influenced by those of Simon de Vlieger, who was active in Bellevois´s native town of Rotterdam. Bellevois owned, as we know from his inventories, twelve works by de Vlieger.
The painting shows a group of ships and boats, in the background one sees the silhouette of a town. It is Dordrecht with the unfinished tower of the Grote Kerk in the centre. Artistic licence was taken when painting the town and the river in order to give his composition width and depth.