A Ship on the High Seas Caught by a Squall, Known as ‘The Gust’
This large, 70-gun British warship is in distress. A fierce gust of wind has broken one of its masts, and a sail has come loose. In 1672, Willem van de Velde II, together with his father, who was also a marine painter, entered the service of the English court. He made this painting and its companion, The Cannon Shot, in England.