ATTRIBUTED TO GERRIT POMPE
Sailing Ships in a Rough Sea
oil on panel
9 x 12 ¾ inches (24 x 33.5 cm)
This panel has traditionally thought to have been painted by Gerrit Pompe, an artist about whom very little is known.
From a shallow strip of land in the lower right foreground, the viewer enters the scene and is made to feel as if precariously perched in the midst of churning seas. Numerous sailing ships are tossed about in rough waters, in stark contrast to the lone vessel with downed sails safely moored to shore. A looming yet spindly navigational marker demarcates the edge of the coastline. In the nearest boat to the picture plane, a single sailor fights to keep his ship afloat. Overhead dark clouds move in from all sides. A flock of seagulls appear to be fleeing the coming deluge. Yet a city bathed in pink light dimly glows in the far background, foretelling that this too shall pass.