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The failed Attack on Antwerp by Prince Maurice, 17 May 1605 by http://www.wikidata.org/.well-known/genid/3d597a81fdce929e2a5d5bbdff721aac

http://www.wikidata.org/.well-known/genid/3d597a81fdce929e2a5d5bbdff721aac · 1650-01-01

An unknown Dutch painter reconstructed a failed naval invasion 45 years after it happened. The Failed Attack on Antwerp by Prince Maurice, 17 May 1605 is an oil painting from around 1650. It shows Prince Maurice of Orange trying to seize Antwerp by sea during the Eighty Years' War. The assault was repelled.

Look for the ship on fire in the middle distance. Smoke and flame mark where the attack began to collapse. On the beach, soldiers clash at close range. The distant skyline is Antwerp itself, untouched.

The painting was made nearly half a century after the battle, by an artist working from accounts rather than direct memory. Control of ports decided the Eighty Years' War, and Antwerp was among the most contested. A record of a defeat is rare in battle painting.

Why paint a loss, decades later, when no one who was there remained to pay for it?

Details

His warships crowded the water like a floating city.
His warships crowded the water like a floating city.
On the beach, soldiers fought hand to hand.
On the beach, soldiers fought hand to hand.
This painting is from 1650. Forty-five years later.
This painting is from 1650. Forty-five years later.
Transcript

In 1605, Prince Maurice attacked Antwerp. His warships crowded the water like a floating city. Ships caught fire. The assault was collapsing. The city's cannons answered without pause. On the beach, soldiers fought hand to hand. This painting is from 1650. Forty-five years later.