The harbour of Amsterdam is buzzing with activity and is seen from the west.

The principal vessels from left to right are a flute, a buyer, a ‘kat’ and a man-of war. In the background the eastern part of Amsterdam is depicted. We see the Oosterkerk on the right and the ropery of the Admirality on the island Oostenburg (the front part is still in existence and presently the Werkspoor Museum). The enormous ‘T Oostindische Zeemagazijn’ to the left was the warehouse from which the ships could be provisioned. Alongside this warehouse was the ‘Scheeps-Timmer-Werf’ (Dutch East India Company wharf). A shipyard with several slipways, docks and a large gatehouse, the “Poortgebouw”, holding workshops and living quarters.

Abraham Storck was one of the most important maritime painters of the last quarter of the seventeenth century.