Shipwreck on a Rocky Coast

Currently not on view

Shipwreck on a Rocky Coast

c. 1640

Bonaventura Peeters (Flemish (active Antwerp), 1614–1652)

Fear of the sea and the horrors awaiting mariners at the far end of the world inspired a new genre of “tempest” painting in the seventeenth century. Bonaventura Peeters never saw the coast of Brazil, but he used other travelers’ accounts to imagine a terrifying fantasy of rocky cliffs and hostile natives. The power of the storm and the helplessness of the doll-like ship convey a sense of human weakness in the face of chaotic, unknowable forces.

Currently not on view

Object Details

Title:

Shipwreck on a Rocky Coast

Date:

c. 1640

Artist:

Bonaventura Peeters (Flemish (active Antwerp), 1614–1652)

Medium:

Oil on panel

Dimensions:

18 13/16 x 28 5/8 inches (47.8 x 72.7 cm)

Classification:

Paintings

Credit Line:

Purchased with the Director's Discretionary Fund, 1970

Accession Number:

1970-2-1

Geography:

Made in Southern Netherlands (modern Belgium), Europe

Provenance

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Currently not on view