Tomb of Maarten Harpertszoon Tromp
by VERHULST, Rombout, Terracotta, pine, maple, 130 x 80 cm
This partially painted (yellow) terracotta relief is a study for the tomb of Maarten Harpertszoon Tromp in Delft.
Lieutenant-Admiral Tromp (1598-1653), the seventeenth-century maritime hero, died at the Battle of Terheide off the coast of South Holland in 1653. In the First Anglo-Dutch War of 1652-1653 Tromp commanded the Dutch fleet in the battles of Dungeness, Portland, the Gabbard and Scheveningen. In the last of these, he was killed by a sharpshooter in the rigging of William Penn’s ship.