Men o' War in Action: English Ship and Barbary Pirate Vessels

Held in the Government Art Collection, this undated canvas by van de Velde the Younger depicting English ships in action against Barbary pirate vessels presents a subject closely related to Britain's persistent Mediterranean problem in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The Barbary States of North Africa — Algiers, Tunis, Tripoli, and Morocco — maintained corsair fleets that attacked European merchant shipping throughout the period, enslaving captured crews and demanding tribute from European states. English naval operations against the Barbary pirates were recurring events, and the Royal Navy dispatched squadrons to the Mediterranean periodically. Van de Velde, as court marine painter to Charles II and James II, would have had access to accounts of such engagements. The Government Art Collection's holding of this work places it within official British commemorative imagery of naval history.

Canvas with oil depicting an active engagement between differently designed vessel types — English warships with their distinctive profile against the lower-built, often oared Barbary corsair vessels. Battle conditions require van de Velde to render gun smoke and disturbed water alongside accurate vessel portraiture.