ADAM WILLAERTS (1577-1664). "Marina. Oil on canvas. Unsigned. Crackle typical of the period. It needs cleaning. Measurements: 34 x 52 cm, 55 x 70,5 cm (frame). Adam Willaerts was a Dutch painter specialised in marine paintings. Willaerts was baptised in 1577 in London, although other sources suppose him to have been born in Antwerp, where his parents were originally from, who would have left the city for religious reasons. In 1585 the family settled in Leiden and in 1597 Adam took up residence in Utrecht, where he was to remain until his death. In 1611 he joined the guild of Saint Luke in the city, of which he was elected dean in 1620. His sons Cornelis, Abraham and Isaac continued their father s profession, although they diversified the genres they painted. He painted seascapes, whether of landings, battles or fishing, often seen from the beach where other genre scenes, such as fish markets, are depicted, but his painting always adhered to traditional formulations, such as the balance between the planes of the composition and the schematic depiction of the sea waves, which was alien to the new naturalistic trends. Occasionally his seascapes reflected historical events, such as the naval confrontation between the Dutch and Spanish off Gibraltar, depicted in The Defeat of the Spanish off Gibraltar by a fleet commanded by Jacob van Heemskerk, 25 April 1607 and in Allegory of the Victory of the Dutch over the Spanish Fleet at Gibraltar, 25 April 1607, both in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, or in The Battle of Gibraltar, 25 April 1607, entered in 2000 in the Prado Museum, and deposited in the Naval Museum in Madrid.