Crowe's Estimate of Lingelbach's Powers.—"Lingelbach's coloring, as was almost always the case with Wijnants's, and also with Wouwermans's in his latest manner, is characterized by a cool and often delicate silvery tone, which with him sometimes degenerates into coldness and want of harmony. In his flesh, especially, a cold red tone often prevails, added to which, neither in clearness nor impasto, does he equal the above-named masters. He ranks, however, high for skill in composition, good drawing, careful execution, to which is sometimes added a happy vein of humor. He may be studied under all his different aspects in the galleries of the Louvre, The Hague, and Amsterdam. Of the four pictures by him in the gallery of The Hague, the Italian Seaport, dated 1670, is remarkable for a power and warmth quite unusual in this painter."[7]
Examples showing the Variety of Lingelbach's Style.—The variety of his style is well exhibited in The Hague Gallery by four pictures of different dates. These are the Italian Seaport, with large figures, signed and dated 1670; the Departure of Charles II. from Scheveningen for England in 1660, a very rich, luminous, and fine work; a small Cavalry March, in which the little figures are beautifully executed and are thoroughly original; and a Landscape with a Hay-Wagon, much in the manner of Philips Wouwermans.
Weakness of the Mauritshuis in Marines.—The Mauritshuis is weak in marines: two by Willem van de Velde; three by Backhuysen, two by Abraham Storck, a view of the Amstel at Amsterdam by Torenburg (1737-86), a few Italian Seaports, and a few Beaches at Scheveningen painted by the landscape artists are all that the gallery owns.
Excellence of W. van de Velde's Marines.—Willem van de Velde (1633-1707) stands very high in the ranks of the marine painters of the seventeenth century. In the last years of that century we have artists like Simon de Vlieger, Jan van de Capelle, Hendrik Dubbels, and Abraham van Beyerex (in his rare marines); but Van de Velde is a master in his sphere, especially when he represents the calm sea under bright sunlight.
In his View on the Y we obtain enjoyment from the fine aërial perspective, the correct drawing of the ships, and the numerous little figures. The accuracy of the detail does not detract from the wonderful composition, the play of the sunlight on sail and water, and the beautiful sky, lightly flecked with clouds. Probably, the gaily decorated ship on the left is the yacht of the Princes of Orange; the boat which is being rowed away from it is bringing important visitors to shore, while the trumpeter on the ship loudly announces their departure.
Although not of the very first rank, this picture belongs to the best work of the master's middle period.
The other picture, of exactly the same size, is also identical in subject and treatment. Both are small. The other picture owned in the Mauritshuis is the Capture of the Royal Prince (June 18, 1666).
His Greatness as a Marine Painter.—"There is no question that Willem van de Velde the younger is the greatest marine painter of the whole Dutch school. His untiring study of nature of which his numerous sepia drawings are the best evidence, his perfect knowledge of lineal and aërial perspective and the incomparable technical process which he inherited from his school,—all these qualifications enabled him to represent the great element under every form, whether that of the raging storm, the gentlest crisping wind, or of the profoundest calm, with the utmost truth of form and color. Nor are his skies, with their transparent ether and light and airy clouds, less entitled to admiration than his seas; the surface of which he diversified, with the purest feeling for the picturesque, by various vessels, near and distant, which are drawn with a knowledge that extends to every rope. Finally his various lightnings create the most charming effect of light and shade. With this combination of qualities, so calculated to please a seafaring nation, it is no wonder that he should have become the most popular painter with the Dutch and English."[8]
The Fulness of his Knowledge of the Sea and Ships.—Both England and Holland, the two greatest sea nations, agree that Willem van de Velde was the greatest marine painter up to his time. In fact, no one had so well observed the motion of the waters, their breaking, or their repose; and no one knew so well the habits of sailors, the rigging of boats, their behavior and their variety. He knew how to make them picturesque, whether isolated between the sky and the water in the most beautiful lines, or in cleverly foreshortening them while they gently rock on the waves singly, or in picturesque groups. Nobody has better understood the profound calm of the ocean, or better expressed the emotion produced by an infinite horizon.
The Van de Velde Family.—The family was talented. Willem the Elder, born at Leyden in 1611, was a magnificent draughtsman, and taught his sons, Willem and Adriaen, drawing. Willem, however, became a pupil of Simon de Vlieger, and the pictures that he sent to his father, then in the service of the English king, astonished the Court. James II. sent for the young man and offered him a pension. In England he frequently colored his father's drawings; and on the Thames from Greenwich to London he had a great opportunity for the study of shipping.