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DOI Artikel:Bentkowska-Kafel, Anna: Navigatio Vitae: elements of Emblematic Symbolism in 17th century Dutch seascapes
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18898#0041
Auff dem Wasser ein Schifflein klein
Wird allhie abgebildet fein
Darduch die Kirch wird figurirt
Wie wunderlich die Gott regiert33.
The timeless tradition, supported by as literał indications as this one and by depictions of Christ
aboard ship, imposed itself on the spectator's imagination with considerable power and must
have evoked similar religious associations, which also applies to works that did not show Christ
and his apostles. This was true particularly when the image of the ship struggling with the element
of the sea was shown against a vast landcsape with the barely distinguishable contours of a city
and clmrch towers on the remote shore. Many examples of this approach to the subject in Dutch
painting can be quoted, for instance in the output of J. Poreellis, A. de Verwer and C. van W ii-
rigen, In the Snow Storni in Zuider Bay (Chantilly, Musee Conde) by Allaert van Everdingen,
a church as the central motif of the composition acquires a peculiar meaning.
In earlier times, when wooden vessels gave only a minimum of security, sailing was insepa-
rably linked with great risk. It was abated by experience, a knowledge of the secrcts of the
art of navigation and a ship equipped with the necessary instruments. Experience, as Ernest
of Munster instructed in his explanation of the emblem Ars reguła vilae (Competence the rule
of life), even a ship that "...tempestatum procellis fluctuum agitatione jaclata, naufragio proxima...
tranąuillum portum subducatur"si. Precaution has it that, in addition to an anchor, ships that
make for the open sea should carry lifeboats in the starboard or haul thcm behind. Though a bur-
den to the ship, they may become necessary at the moment of danger; Sit oneri, erit usui(lt
is a burden, it will become useful). In Roemer Visscher's emblem, from which the motto comes,
the author peaks on behalf of the ship:
I patiently carry the burden and bear its discomfort
That may come in handy and pleasant to you in need35.
Almost all ships in Dutch seascapes have such a boat. Yet it is particularly stressed in some
paintings. Among those are: Lieve Verschuir's Ships at Sea (Warsaw, National Museum); Hans
Goderis's Fishing Boats on a Rough Sea (Greenwich, National Maritime Museum) and Simon
de Vlieger's Shipwreck at the Rocky Shore of 1642 (Helmond, the Wessehnan Collection) that
shows how a burden turns into a means of salvation: the sailors from the shipwreck rcach the
rocky shore on a lifeboat; the castle on the top is a symbol of courage, assistance and fulfilled
hopes.
Warning signs for ships and lighthouses placed on the shore to indicate the way to port offered
invaluable help to sailors. No wonder that Dutch painters obscrved this detail with characteri-
stic presicion. The signs were usually quite primitive, wooden, attached to rall posts, seen only
at daytime and from a smali distance. They are present in numeious paintings: Jan van Goyen's
33. J. Mannich, Sacra Emhlemata LXXVI in quibus summa uniusćuiuśąue Erangelii rotundę, Norimbergae, 1624; cf. Henkel,
Schóne, op, cii., cols. 1455—56.
A smali ship is shown on the water
Beautifully shaped as a whole,
She is to rępresent the Church
And show how wonderful Gods rule is. - . .
For the motif of the ship in Netherlandish Counter-Reformation iconography, see: J. B. Knipping, Iconography of the
Counler Reformalion in the Nethcrlands, I—II, Nieuwkoop — Leiden, 1974, Chap. „The militant Church", pp. 345—382,
espeeially355 and ff. (The Ship ofihe Chureli) ; also: R. Judson,,,Marinę Symbols of Salvation in the Sixteenth Century',''
in: Essays in Memory of Karl Lehmann, New York, 1964, pp. 136—152.
34. Oratio ąuartae classis recitata ab Ernesto a Munster in: Emblemala anniyersaria Academiae Altorfinae..., Norimbergae,
1597, p. 34: , ,...that during the storm is tossed by the waves, is close to drowning, is safely guidcd to port".
35. R. Visscher, Sinne-poppen, Amsterdam, 1614, cf. Henkel, Schóne, op. cit., col. 1480: " ,......„
Yerdraecht gheduldelijck, wat last en ongherief
Van dat u inde noot, kan dienstich zijn en lief. *
35
Wird allhie abgebildet fein
Darduch die Kirch wird figurirt
Wie wunderlich die Gott regiert33.
The timeless tradition, supported by as literał indications as this one and by depictions of Christ
aboard ship, imposed itself on the spectator's imagination with considerable power and must
have evoked similar religious associations, which also applies to works that did not show Christ
and his apostles. This was true particularly when the image of the ship struggling with the element
of the sea was shown against a vast landcsape with the barely distinguishable contours of a city
and clmrch towers on the remote shore. Many examples of this approach to the subject in Dutch
painting can be quoted, for instance in the output of J. Poreellis, A. de Verwer and C. van W ii-
rigen, In the Snow Storni in Zuider Bay (Chantilly, Musee Conde) by Allaert van Everdingen,
a church as the central motif of the composition acquires a peculiar meaning.
In earlier times, when wooden vessels gave only a minimum of security, sailing was insepa-
rably linked with great risk. It was abated by experience, a knowledge of the secrcts of the
art of navigation and a ship equipped with the necessary instruments. Experience, as Ernest
of Munster instructed in his explanation of the emblem Ars reguła vilae (Competence the rule
of life), even a ship that "...tempestatum procellis fluctuum agitatione jaclata, naufragio proxima...
tranąuillum portum subducatur"si. Precaution has it that, in addition to an anchor, ships that
make for the open sea should carry lifeboats in the starboard or haul thcm behind. Though a bur-
den to the ship, they may become necessary at the moment of danger; Sit oneri, erit usui(lt
is a burden, it will become useful). In Roemer Visscher's emblem, from which the motto comes,
the author peaks on behalf of the ship:
I patiently carry the burden and bear its discomfort
That may come in handy and pleasant to you in need35.
Almost all ships in Dutch seascapes have such a boat. Yet it is particularly stressed in some
paintings. Among those are: Lieve Verschuir's Ships at Sea (Warsaw, National Museum); Hans
Goderis's Fishing Boats on a Rough Sea (Greenwich, National Maritime Museum) and Simon
de Vlieger's Shipwreck at the Rocky Shore of 1642 (Helmond, the Wessehnan Collection) that
shows how a burden turns into a means of salvation: the sailors from the shipwreck rcach the
rocky shore on a lifeboat; the castle on the top is a symbol of courage, assistance and fulfilled
hopes.
Warning signs for ships and lighthouses placed on the shore to indicate the way to port offered
invaluable help to sailors. No wonder that Dutch painters obscrved this detail with characteri-
stic presicion. The signs were usually quite primitive, wooden, attached to rall posts, seen only
at daytime and from a smali distance. They are present in numeious paintings: Jan van Goyen's
33. J. Mannich, Sacra Emhlemata LXXVI in quibus summa uniusćuiuśąue Erangelii rotundę, Norimbergae, 1624; cf. Henkel,
Schóne, op, cii., cols. 1455—56.
A smali ship is shown on the water
Beautifully shaped as a whole,
She is to rępresent the Church
And show how wonderful Gods rule is. - . .
For the motif of the ship in Netherlandish Counter-Reformation iconography, see: J. B. Knipping, Iconography of the
Counler Reformalion in the Nethcrlands, I—II, Nieuwkoop — Leiden, 1974, Chap. „The militant Church", pp. 345—382,
espeeially355 and ff. (The Ship ofihe Chureli) ; also: R. Judson,,,Marinę Symbols of Salvation in the Sixteenth Century',''
in: Essays in Memory of Karl Lehmann, New York, 1964, pp. 136—152.
34. Oratio ąuartae classis recitata ab Ernesto a Munster in: Emblemala anniyersaria Academiae Altorfinae..., Norimbergae,
1597, p. 34: , ,...that during the storm is tossed by the waves, is close to drowning, is safely guidcd to port".
35. R. Visscher, Sinne-poppen, Amsterdam, 1614, cf. Henkel, Schóne, op. cit., col. 1480: " ,......„
Yerdraecht gheduldelijck, wat last en ongherief
Van dat u inde noot, kan dienstich zijn en lief. *
35