Ships Through the Ages

A fascinating array of ship depictions ranging from medieval paintings to engravings, illustrating maritime history and the evolution of sailing vessels.

Allegorical Glorification of Magellan's Sail Around the World, 1520-1522 Philip Galle (1537-1612 Netherlandish) Colored copperplate

An armed sailing ship encounters winged flying fish on the Atlantic Ocean. The engraving was published in 'The Fourth Part of America. Or, Significant and Remarkable History of Western India, First Discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492.' Published in Frankfurt by Theodor de Bry in 1594 (BSLOC_2020_1_75)

Medieval Wall Paintings interior of Winchester Cathedral Hampshire England United Kingdom GB Great Britain British Isles Europe EU

Ship of the Argonauts, by Ercole de' Roberti, 1450-1496

Three-Masted Ship Steering to the Right. Master W with the Key; Netherlandish, active 1465-1490. Date: 1460-1480. Dimensions: 164 × 117 mm (image/sheet). Engraving in black on buff laid paper. Origin: Flanders. Museum: The Chicago Art Institute, Chicago, USA.

Sailing ship near a coast. At the top right the monogram of the publisher Abraham Casteleyn.

Shipwreck, Anonymous, Hans Weiditz (II), 1514 - 1532 print Print is part of an album. paper letterpress printing shipwreck

Allegorical Glorification of Magellan's Sail Around the World, 1520-1522 Philip Galle (1537-1612 Netherlandish) Colored copperplate

fishing pearl fishing in the Carribean Sea copper engraving 16th century,

Roman period. Trading vessel. Engraving, 19th century.

Marine ex-voto, 18th century, oil on canvas, Museu de Mallorca, Palma, Majorca, Spain.

Painting, Galleon Room, Sintra National Palace, Sintra, Unesco World Heritage Site, Lisbon, Portugal, Europe

Willem Barents, 1550-97, Dutch navigator, narrative of last voyage, by Gerrit de Veer, 1598. Shows Barents' fleet arriving at Nova Zembla in 1594

The admiral Christopher Columbus discovers the Margarita and Cubagœa islands. Picture from the 'Historia general de los hechos de los castellanos en las islas y tierra firme del mar oceano ' written by Antonio de Herrera (1601). Engraving. Engraving. SPAIN. MADRID (AUTONOMOUS COMMUNITY). Madrid. National Library.

Willem Barents, 1550-97, Dutch navigator, narrative of last voyage, by Gerrit de Veer, 1598. The two ships see the sun before arriving at Spitzbergen in June 1596

Idmon and Mopsus. Parigi, Giulio, 1571-1635. 1608. Cantagallina, Remigio, approximately 1582-1656. Prints. The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Print Collection

States-General, Amsterdam, Visscher, Claes Jansz. (II), Venne, Adriaen Pietersz. van de, Northern Netherlands, Arrival and reception of the Count Palatine Frederick and his wife Elisabeth in Vlissingen (plate 2), 1613, Large representations consisting of 4 sheets of the arrival and reception of the Count Palatine Frederick (the Winter King) and his wife Elisabeth in Vlissingen (plate 2), 28 April 1613. Ships on the water in the harbour of Vlissingen, in the background the first buildings of the city. In the clouds a group of angels playing music and part of a large group of people including the Winter King with his wife, Prince Maurits, Frederick Henry, Johan van Oldenbarnevelt and others., print, engraving, news print, prints, engravings, Frederik Muller Historieplaten, height 424 mm, width 562 mm, print maker, printmaker, 1618 - 1618, first quarter 17th century, third quarter 17th century, paper, engraving (printing process), Work conception, 1589 - 1662-11-12, after a design by, Pub

'The Expedition of the French and Genoese to Barbary', 15th Century.Artist: Master of the Harley Froissart

Chinese Ships at Nagasaki ca. 1840 Unidentified artist Two Chinese ships approach the port of Nagasaki. The crew of the ship in the foreground works quickly to lower one of the sails as a small vessel approaches with a group of returning traders. An inscription at upper left declares the ships as trading vessels from Qing, China. It is followed by an inscription detailing the mission. The red seal at right bears the name of the prints publisher, “Bunsaid?.”. Chinese Ships at Nagasaki. Unidentified artist Japanese, 19th century. Japan. ca. 1840. Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper; horizontal nagaban. Edo period (1615-1868). Prints

BATALLA NAVAL - TOMA DE LOS DIEZ NAVIOS INGLESES EN GIBRALTAR - FRESCO SIGLO XVI. Author: CESARE ARBASIA (1540-1614). Location: PALACIO DEL MARQUES DE SANTA CRUZ. VISO DEL MARQUES. CIUDAD REAL. SPAIN.

Plan of the island of Utopia. From Thomas Moore's work depicting an ideal state where reason ruled, 'Utopia' 1518 (Ist edition 1516) Woodcut.

A woodcut by Gaspare Ruina created between 1515 and 1540 depicting three women and three men in a rowboat, illustrating early 16th-century European group figure study and boating scene.

Vasco da Gama (c1469-1525) Portuguese navigator, first westerner to round Cape of Good Hope to Asia. Gama's fleet with his ship 'The Raphael' (centre) Pierpoint Morgan Library

HENRY II of Babenberg, 1141-77 First Hereditary Duke of Austria, embarking for the Crusades from Vienna, Austria, from Family Tree of the House of Babenberg, 1489-92 triptych (detail)

Departure of caravels of Columbus for America

AZULEJOS PINTADOS CON BARCOS DE VELA. Author: RAFAEL MONLEON. Location: MUSEO NAVAL / MINISTERIO DE MARINA. MADRID. SPAIN.

Landing of Scipio Africanus at Carthage, c. 1555 drawing Brussels paper. gouache (paint). cardboard

Barreme, The symbolic vessel of France, vintage engraved illustration. Magasin Pittoresque 1852.

Barreme, The symbolic vessel of France, vintage engraving. Barreme, The symbolic vessel of France, vintage engraved illustration. Magasin Pittoresque 1852. Copyright: xZoonar.com/PatrickxGuenettex 10673470

temptation of alcohol on a boat, altarpiece of San Nicolas San Antonio and Santa Clara, Pere Marçol, 14th century, tempera on panel, Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain.

first European pictorial representation, of the Mori, at Murderers Bay. From the Abel Tasman travel journal 1642

Italy, Lazio, Palestrina, Sanctuary at Praeneste, Mosaic work depicting a sailing scene along the Nile

Muyder Poort / La Porte de Muyden, 1801 - 1900, Woodcuts, Color, Paper / Sheet 15 3/4 x 21 7/16 in. (40 x 54.4 cm)

Vellert, Dirck, Christ walking on water, Rescue of Peter by Christ, verso bottom center - stamped, Stormy sea with ship, Christ walking on water and Peter up to waist in sea., print, prints, recto bottom left - stamped, height 153 mm, width 113 mm, South Netherlandish, 1485 - 1547, print maker, printmaker, 1525-12-30 - 1525-12-30, second quarter 16th century, paper, engraving, engraving (printing process)

Historia. Descubrimiento de la isla La Española por Cristóbal Colón en 1492, posteriormente rebautizada como isla de Santo Domingo. Grabado de 1906.

Tristan and Iseult sail for the Kingdom of the Orge, miniature from the Romance of Tristan by Thomas of Britain, folio 234, manuscript, France 15th Century.

Carrack "Santa Cruz". Depiction of the miracle made by St. Francis Xavier, when sailing from Macau (China) to Japan. By soaking his feet in the sea, he converted salt water into fresh water, thus saving the crew and passengers of the boat from dying of thirst. Anonymous, 17th century. Oil on wood. Detail. Maritime Museum. Lisbon, Portugal.

Saint Nicholas of Bari banishing a Storm by Bicci di Lorenzo, 1433-35,England, Oxford, Oxford University, Ashmolean Museum

BARCO PROCEDENTE DE ORIO (GUIPUZCOA). Location: MUSEO DE SAN TELMO. DONOSTI-SAN SEBASTIAN. Guipuzcoa. SPAIN.

Marco Polo leaves Venice, almost certainly on his second trip in 1271. (His first trip from Venice was in 1255.) Date: 1271

Ships Through the Ages: The Ship of Romance - 'Great Harry' , Sailing ships, Henry VIII, King of England, 1491-1547

INCUNABLE OGIER DANOIS 1499-MINT-SOLDADOS DE CARLOMAGNO CONTRA SARRACENOS. Author: ANTOINE VERARD (IMPRESOR). Location: NATIONAL LIBRARY. France.

Navitation history. Caravel. 15th century. Age of Exploration. Engraving, 19th century.

Tile 1650-80 Dutch, Harlingen. Tile 196213

The 'narrenschiff' is an allegory of human failings of every sort, represented by those who set sail on the sea of life with foolish ideas

MOSAICO BARBERINI O PAISAJE DEL NILO HALLADO EN PALESTRINA - INUNDACION DEL NILO - AÑO 80 AC - HELENISTICO. Location: ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM. Palestrina. ITALIA.

SCULPTURE SHOWING ROMAN WAR GALLEY.

Cartoon - It's An Ill Wind That Blows No Good! Arthur George Racey (1870-1941)

Woodblock print of Noah's Ark from a children's book. Dated 18th Century

ENEAS CAMINO DE ITALIA - HISTORIA DE DIDO Y ENEAS - TAPIZ DE BRUSELAS - SIGLO XVII - SERIE 116. Author: CORNELIS DE RONDE (1551-1589). Location: CONGRESO DE LOS DIPUTADOS-TAPICES. MADRID. SPAIN.

Marco Polo (1254-1324) setting out with his uncles from Venice for Far East, In foreground are lands they will visit and strange things they will see, After late 14th century manuscript

Image from the diary of Carl Johan Gethe, a cartographer on board the Gotha Leyon, which left Sweden on a three year trading expedition in 1746. Gethe's diary or Dagbok is titled: Dagbok hallen pa resan till Ost Indien begynt den 18 octobr: 1746 och slutad den 20 juni 1749 or 'Diary of a journey to East India begun on 18 October 1746 and ending June 20, 1749'. The Swedish East India Company (Swedish: Svenska Ostindiska Companiet or SOIC) was founded in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1731 for the purpose of conducting trade with the Far East, and grew to become the largest trading company in Sweden during the 18th century. It closed in 1813.

A Borobudur ship is the 8th-century wooden double outrigger, sailed vessel of Maritime Southeast Asia depicted in some bas reliefs of the Borobudur Buddhist monument in Central Java, Indonesia. The ships depicted at Borobudur were most likely the type of vessels used for inter-insular trades and naval campaigns by the Sailendran and Srivijayan thalassocracy empire that ruled the region around the 7th to the 13th century. The function of the outrigger was to stabilize the ship; a single or double outrigger canoe is the typical feature of the seafaring Austronesian vessels. It is considered by scholars to have been the most likely type of vessel used for their voyages and exploration across Southeast Asia, Oceania, and the Indian Ocean.

The fisherman. Facsimile after a drawing and engraving by Jost Amman in the 16th century. "Moeurs, usages et costumes au moyen-age et a l'epoque de la Renaissance", by Paul Lacroix. Paris, 1878.

Scene decor, boat with four men throwing Jonas overplate, corner motif of ox-head, wall tile tile sculpture ceramic earthenware glaze, baked 2x glazed painted Yellow shard square four nail holes. Purple on white long distance Front Jonah = 1 = Vs 15; reverse side O below 58 bible religion Jonas Jonah

Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji’, is an ukiyo-e’ series of large, color woodblock prints by the Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849). The series depicts Mount Fuji in differing seasons and weather conditions from a variety of places and distances. It actually consists of 46 prints created between 1826 and 1833. The first 36 were included in the original publication and, due to their popularity, 10 more were added after the original publication. Mount Fuji is the highest mountain in Japan at 3,776.24 m (12,389 ft). An active stratovolcano that last erupted in 1707-08, Mount Fuji lies about 100 km southwest of Tokyo. Mount Fuji's exceptionally symmetrical cone is a well-known symbol and icon of Japan and is frequently depicted in art and photographs. It is one of Japan's Three Holy Mountains’ along with Mount Tate and Mount Haku. Fuji is nowadays frequently visited by sightseers and climbers. It is thought that the first ascent was in 663 CE by an anonymous monk. The summit h

Sir Bedivere return Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake. Arthurian legend. Engraving, 19th century.

Fishermen catching sardines near the coast of Brittany, France, Historic, digitally restored reproduction of an original 19th century painting, exact ...

Uninvited Guests 1901 Nikolai Konstantinovich Rerikh (1874-1947/Russian) Oil on canvas State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia

The rocks of Dover, the mirror of the 'Holland' and sloping ships. Draughtsman: Jan Brandes. Dating: 23-May-1778 - 28-Sep-1778. Place: English Channel. Measurements: h 195 mm × w 310 mm. Museum: Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

Seascape, showing fishermen beaching a boat , Fishermen, Seas, Sailboats

Panel of a winged altarpiece from St Catherine's Church, Lübeck, c. 1500, St Nicholas rescuing a ship in distress at sea, St, Sankt, Saint

The Islands of Thieves (Islas de los Ladrones) today Mariana Islands, illustration from Journey around the world by Ferdinand Magellan written by Antonio Pigafetta (1485-1534), 16th Century.

Italy, Romano, Giulio, Scultori, Adamo, Fishermen catch a sea monster, verso - stamped, Fishermen on three different boats have caught a sea monster in a net stretched between the different boats., print, prints, height 211 mm, height, 315 mm, Italian, 1530 - 1585, print maker, printmaker, 1540 - 1585, paper, engraving, engraving (printing process), Work conception, 1499 - 1546-01-11

Etching by Augustin Hirschvogel showing a galleon with two high masts, detailed rigging, and hull structure, mid-16th century.

France: Noah's Ark and The Flood, as represented in Les Histoires Roger ('The Histories of Roger'), Lille, 13th Century

Middle Ages Vikings pillage of Kostroma woodcut coloured 16th century private collection,

Marco Polo (1254-1324) setting out with his uncles from Venice for Far East. In foreground are lands they will visit and strange things they will see. After late 14th century manuscript.

One of King Montezuma of the Aztecs lookouts witnesses the arrival of the conquerors, xylograph, Peru 16th Century.

La Péche et la Commerce Maritime (Fishing and Maritime Trade) (Furnishing Fabric). Engraved by Jean Jacques Le Veau (French, 1729-1785) and others after Claude Joseph Vernet (French 1714-1789) and others; Manufactured by Oberkampf Manufactory (French, 1738-1815); France, Jouy-en-Josas. Date: 1780-1800. Dimensions: 176.6 × 71.7 cm (69 1/2 × 28 1/4 in.)Warp repeat: 99.1 cm (39 in.). Cotton, plain weave; copperplate printed. Origin: France. Museum: The Chicago Art Institute, Chicago, USA.

America. Indian canoe of Paria country. Wood engraving. 16th century.

Port of Classe, 6th century mosaic, Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna, Italy

Alexander III of Macedon (356323 BCE), popularly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of Macedon or Macedonia, a state in the northeast of Greece. By the age of 30, he was the creator of one of the largest empires in ancient history, stretching from the Ionian Sea to the Himalayas. He was undefeated in battle and is considered one of the most successful commanders of all time. Born in Pella in 356 BCE, Alexander was tutored by the famed philosopher Aristotle. In 336 BCE he succeeded his assassinated father Philip II who had brought most of the city-states of Greece under Macedonian hegemony using both military and diplomatic means. In 334 BCE, Alexander invaded Persian-ruled Asia Minor and began a 10-year campaign that extended his empire to Pakistan and the Indus River. Eventually forced to turn back by the near-mutiny of his troops, Alexander died in Babylon in 323 BCE. Apart from his military genius, Alexander is best remembered for the cultural diffusion his conquests engender

CARLOS V SALIENDO DEL PUERTO DE CORUÑA EN 1520 - LIBRO DE HORAS DEL VIAJE DE CARLOS V PARA SU CORONACION COMO EMPERADOR - SIGLO XVI. Author: ROBERT DE KEYSER (1470-1532). Location: MONASTERIO-BIBLIOTECA-COLECCION. SAN LORENZO DEL ESCORIAL. MADRID. SPAIN. Charles I (V of the Holly Roman Empire). CARLOS V ALEMANIA-CARLOS I DE ESPAÑA (1500-1558).

Detail of a mosaic from the Sanctuary of Ancient Praeneste (Palestrina), Lazio. Roman Civilization, 1st Century BC.

Three fish on the beach, Adriaen Collaert, after 1598 - 1618 print A sea bass, a tongue and a salmon lie together with some shells washed up on the beach. The sea in the background. The print is part of a series with fish as the subject. Antwerp paper engraving bony fishes: seabass. bony fishes: salmon. bony fishes: sole. pier, quay, wharf

Henry Hudson (1565-1611). English navigator and Arctic explorer. Hudson abandoned by his crew. Engraving by Charles Barbant (-1922). Colored.

Model of the William Rex, Cornelis Moesman, Adriaen de Vriend, 1698

Joan Oliva / Atlas náutico del Mediterráneo, 1592. Museu Marítim de Barcelona.

Arrival of a Portuguese ship, one of a pair (painted Nanban screen) 1620-1640. In 1543, three Portuguese travellers aboard a Chinese ship drifted ashore on Tanegashima, a small island near Kyushu. They were the first Europeans to visit Japan. In 1548, Francis Xavier, a Jesuit, arrived from Goa to introduce Christianity to the Japanese. Portuguese merchants brought tin, lead, gold, silk, and wool and cotton textiles, among other goods, to Japan, which exported swords, lacquer ware, silk, and silver

Christ Stills The Tempest, Bruno Bramanti, (1897-1957 Italian)

A replica of the Santa Maria sailing ship at 15th-century Franciscan Monasterio de Santa María de la Rábida, Palos de la Frontera, a Heritage of Mankind Site in the Huelva Provence of Andalucia and Southern Spain, the seaside spot where Christopher Columbus planned and departed from the Old World to the New World in August 3 of 1492

PUERTO DE MALLORCA - SIGLO XVII. Author: ANONIMO SIGLO XVII. Location: PRIVATE COLLECTION. Palma. MALLORCA. SPAIN.

The Venetians taking Riva sul Garda from the Milanese in 1440, by Jacopo Robusti known as Tintoretto (1518-1594). Sala del Maggior Consiglio (Hall of the Great Council), Palazzo Ducale, Venice.

Nao Santa maria, casa museo de Cristobal Colón, Ibiza, balearic islands, Spain.

Boat, detail from the Nilotic mosaic of the flooding of the river Nile in Egypt, from the Sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia at Palestrina, Lazio, Italy. Roman civilization, 1st century BC.

Aeneas Erects a Tomb to his Nurse, Caieta, and Flees the Country of Circe (Aeneid, Book VII). Artist: Master of the Aeneid (active ca. 1530-40). Culture: French, Limoges. Dimensions: 7 3/4 x 8 1/2 in. (19.7 x 21.6 cm). Date: probably ca. 1530-35.European of the Renaissance period viewed ancient Rome not only as the origin of Italian civilzation but also the geographic center of a lost golden age. This plaque belongs to a series of at least eighty Limoges enamels illustrating events from Virgil's Aeneid. The Latin epic poem tells the story of the legendary hero Aeneas, who escaped the sack and burning of Troy by the Greeks and, after wandering for some time, settled in Italy, where his descendants founded Rome.The scenes are not, however, the product of the enameler's imagination; rather, they are close copies of the woodcut illustrations for the edition of the Latin poet's Opera printed by Johann Grüninger in Strasbourg in 1502. The same woodcuts were used again for the edition publi

Industry and Idleness The idle prentice turned away and sent to sea From the original design by Hogarth from The Works of Hogarth published London 1833, Historisch, digital restaurierte Reproduktion von einer Vorlage aus dem 19. Jahrhundert, Record date not stated

The Pharos of Alexandria, 18th century. Artist: Unknown

New York City, NY, USA. Conservationist at work

Tapestry of Bayeux. The complete tapestry depicts the Norman invansion of England. Knights of King Edward III (upper part) and naves of Harold II (down). Detail. Fresco. FRANCE. BASSE-NORMANDIE. CALVADOS. Bayeux. Archaeological Museum.

Map of Sardinia, by Ignazio Danti, Gallery of Maps, Vatican Museums, Rome, Italy

Montoit vessel that William the Conqueror to travel to England, vintage engraving. Montoit vessel that William the Conqueror to travel to England, vintage engraved illustration. Colorful History of England, 1837. Copyright: xZoonar.com/PatrickxGuenettex 10648718

Torso of a ship. Draughtsman: Jan Brandes. Dating: May-1779 - 26-Jun-1787. Place: Atlantic Ocean. Measurements: h 195 mm × w 155 mm. Museum: Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

JORDAN. Madaba. Basilica of Saint George. Mosaic of the 6th century with the oldest representation of Palestina. Detail of the Jordan River in the mouth at the Dead Sea. Early Byzantine art. Mosaic.

Utagawa Kuniyoshi 1798-1861. The Flourishing of Seven Coasts with Big Fish (Nana ura tairyo hanjo no zu). 1853. Nishiki-e Oban vertical triptych. detail.

Animalia Aqvatilia et Cochiliata (Aqva): Plate XXXVIII. Dated: c. 1575/1580. Dimensions: page size (approximate): 14.3 x 18.4 cm (5 5/8 x 7 1/4 in.). Medium: watercolor and gouache, with oval border in gold, on vellum. Museum: National Gallery of Art, Washington DC. Author: Joris Hoefnagel.

Symbolic ship for the Reappearance of the Pharaoh. 1323 BC. Tutankhamun's Treasure. Funerary ship. Egyptian art. New Kingdom. Furniture. EGYPT. CAIRO. Cairo. Egyptian Museum. Proc: EGYPT. QUENA. Dayr al-Bahri. Valley of the Kings. Tomb of Tutankhamun.

Cartography, 16th century. Northern Europe: Iceland, from Atlas of the World in thirty-three Maps, by Battista Agnese, 1553

Venice, Italy. Engraving (detail). Liber chronicarum by Hartmann Schedel,1493. Later colouration.

POPA DE LA MAQUETA DEL NAVIO 'SAN ANTONIO'. Location: MUSEO NAVAL / MINISTERIO DE MARINA. MADRID. SPAIN.

of 2