This work by the Dutch artist Jacobus Storck (1641-1687) depicts the formal reception of some important person. The large single-masted ship in the centre of the painting flies the Dutch tricolour flag and has the arms of the Prince of Orange on the stern.
The waterborne festivities depicted resemble the mock sea battle that the Amsterdam city council staged in the IJ, an arm of the Zuider Zee, on 1 September 1697 to mark the arrival of the Russian Great Embassy. All yacht and small sailing-boat owners from North Holland were invited to take part and many installed artillery pieces aboard their vessels. The result was a tremendous spectacle that lasted the whole day. Cannon and muskets fired. The crews of some ships attempted to board others. Thousands of spectators stood and sat on the shore, on the dykes and also in boats.
Peter the Great attended this show incognito, although everyone was well aware that he was the Russian Tsar.