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The Wreck of the Amsterdam in MA

July 31, 2009 by Steve Mentz Leave a Comment

My favorite painting in the world is in Massachusetts at the Peabody Essex Musuem until Sept 7, and it’s also in today’s New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/31/arts/design/31seascapes.html?_r=1

All these 17c seascapes come from the National Maritime Museum’s collection, in Greenwich (London), where I was a fellow in 2007-8.  As the article notes, seeing all these paintings together reminds you that these are generic works, fairly similar each to each.  But as documents of the increasing fascination with the maritime world that was transforming European culture in the 17c, it’s hard to find anything more visually striking.

I remember the first time I saw “The Wreck of the Amsterdam,” the anonymous Flemish painting that’s the lead image in the Times review.  It’s a huge canvas, and I came upon it in an exhibition at the Queen’s House in Greenwich (built in 1605 by Inigo Jones) , and the thing almost knocked me over.  It’s beautiful, powerful, and just overwhelming.  You see the huge ship heeled over almost horizontally by the waves, being driven onto a rocky coast, with an already-wrecked ship on one side and a flaming shipped manned by devils on the other.  A lone sailor clings to the mast.  An allegorical portrait of life at sea?

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Steve Mentz
Professor of English
St. John’s University
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stevermentzSteve Mentz@stevermentz·
4 Mar

Another great essay by @pakhimie about parenting & teaching. Every as the pandemic (please!) fades, we should heed what it’s taught us about teaching, community, and our essential labor as parents as well as profs

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2 Mar

"There is no long-term survival plan for humans in the ocean." @stevermentz on the loneliness of the long-distance swimmer: http://hypocritereader.com/61/swimming-lessons

#swimming #ocean #environment #memoir #essays #longreads #literature

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