The painter, draughtsman and etcher Jan van de Capelle was a pupil of Simon de Vlieger, but was mainly self-taught. From de Vlieger the artist developed a fascination with the rendering of light and atmosphere which is evident from the present painting, his mastery of these natural effects was unrivaled. Besides being considered present day as the outstanding marine painter of 17th century Holland, he was also notable as an industrialist and art collector. Due to the fact he was a wealthy man he never had to rely on painting for his livelihood and consequently his oeuvre, consisting of approximately 150 works, is relatively small. He formed one of the largest art collections of his day, with over 7000 drawings and 192 paintings listed in the inventory drawn up after his death.