Het Engelse koningsjacht Catherine onder Amsterdamse vlag

Dated to 1677 and held by Het Scheepvaartmuseum, this canvas depicts the English royal yacht Catherine under an Amsterdam flag — likely referring to a ceremonial occasion in which the English vessel received Dutch honors or was shown in Dutch waters. The Catherine was the personal yacht of King Charles II, named after his queen Catherine of Braganza, and it was a vessel van de Velde knew well from his years as court marine painter in England after 1672. Royal yachts occupied a special place in both Dutch and English maritime culture: they were prestige objects, technologically advanced, and often gifts between monarchies. The Dutch had actually given Charles II a yacht — the Mary — at the Restoration in 1660, helping establish the English tradition of royal yachting. By 1677, van de Velde was working for both the English crown and Dutch patrons simultaneously, and his precise knowledge of the Catherine made him the ideal artist for such a subject.

Canvas with oil depicting a royal yacht in a relatively calm sea. The Catherine's distinctive profile — lower, more elegant than a warship — is rendered with the precision van de Velde brought to all vessel portraiture. The Dutch flag flying from an English vessel is the key heraldic detail of the composition.