Bakhuizen
started as a calligrapher,
but his impressive assemblage of
seafaring paintings eventually made him the most successful marine painter in
Holland. He attracted several
prestigious admirers, including Peter the Great of Russia, who visited his studio.
He was a devoted naturalist, and hence his paintings attempt to portray nature as
faithfully as possible, although he may dramatize the intense movement of the
ships and sea.
“ And
there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that
the ship was filled. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, sleeping upon a
pillow; and they awake him, and say to him: Master, doth it not concern thee
that we perish? And rising up, he rebuked the wind, and said to the sea: Peace,
be still. And the wind ceased: and there was made a great calm. And he said to
them: Why are you fearful? have you not faith yet? And they feared exceedingly:
and they said one to another: Who is this (thinkest thou) that both wind and
sea obey him?”
Mark 4:37-40
