Lot 138: PIETER MULIER THE ELDER (HAARLEM CIRCA 1615-CIRCA 1670) Dutch and Spa

PIETER MULIER THE ELDER (HAARLEM CIRCA 1615-CIRCA 1670) Dutch and Spanish vessels in choppy waters signed ‘P.M ’ (on spar, lower right) oil on canvas 71 x 114.4cm (27 15/16 x 45 1/16in).

Provenance Sale, Bonhams, London, 8 December 2004, lot 105 In the present painting the Dutch ship on the left is proudly sailing in heavy weather conditions, while the Spanish ship on the right, flying the Habsburg flags with the batons de Bourgogne , is in trouble. It can therefore be seen as an allegory of the contemporary political situation. In 1648, eleven years before Mulier’s death, Spain was finally forced to accept the sovereignty of an independent Dutch Republic as the conclusion to the long, expensive Eighty Years’ War.