Reinier Nooms (c. 1623 – 1664), also known as Zeeman or Seeman (

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

for "sailor"), was a

maritime painter known for his highly detailed paintings and

etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other type ...

s of ships. From the 1650s, Nooms started producing and initially publishing a series of etchings of ships and topographical views. This etching work is characterised by great refinement and was used by many other artists as an example.

Life

Nooms was probably born and died in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, but no records survived. From 1643 he started painting and drawing following a rough, drunken life as a sailor. It is not known how he acquired his skill as an artist. His knowledge of ships is evident from his work: ships and foreign locations are depicted with high accuracy and in great detail and served as an example to other artists of how to depict ships. A favourite subject of his paintings were the Dutch victories in the Anglo-Dutch Wars. For instance, he painted the ''Amalia'', the flagship of admiral

Maarten Tromp Maarten Harpertszoon Tromp or Maarten van Tromp (23 April 1598 – 31 July 1653) was an army general and admiral in the Dutch navy during much of the Eighty Years' War and throughout the First Anglo-Dutch War. Son of a ship's captain, Tromp spe ...

, before the

Battle of the Downs The Battle of the Downs took place on 21 October 1639 (New Style), during the Eighty Years' War. A Spanish fleet, commanded by Admiral Antonio de Oquendo, was decisively defeated by a Dutch force under Lieutenant-Admiral Maarten Tromp. ...

. This painting is on show in the

National Maritime Museum The National Maritime Museum (NMM) is a maritime museum in Greenwich, London. It is part of Royal Museums Greenwich, a network of museums in the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. Like other publicly funded national museums in the Unit ...

Greenwich Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...

, UK. His painting of the

Battle of Leghorn The naval Battle of Leghorn took place on 4 March 1653 (14 March Gregorian calendar), during the First Anglo-Dutch War, near Leghorn (Livorno), Italy. It was a victory of a Dutch Republic, Dutch squadron under Commodore (rank), Commodore Johan ...

in 1653 is in the collection of the

Rijksmuseum The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the S ...

. A widely travelled artist, Nooms visited

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

(1650-1652, 1656),

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

and possibly

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

(1657), and journeyed along the coast of

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

with

Michiel de Ruyter Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter (; 24 March 1607 – 29 April 1676) was a Dutch States Navy officer. His achievements with the Dutch navy during the Anglo-Dutch Wars earned him the reputation as one of the most skilled naval commanders in ...

(1661-1663). It is not clear where and when he married Maria Moosijn from

Bruges Bruges ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is in the northwest of the country, and is the sixth most populous city in the country. The area of the whole city amoun ...

, but the couple had two daughters baptized in 1653 and 1655. In the 1650s, Nooms made a series of etchings of ships and topographical views characterized by a high degree of detail and precision. These etchings were published by Cornelis Danckerts and Clement de Jonghe and served as an example to many artists. One of Nooms' final works, from 1664, shows a view of the Amsterdam harbour, with the IJ bay and the

's Lands Zeemagazijn s Lands Zeemagazijn ("National Sea Arsenal") is a 17th-century building in the Oosterdok near Kattenburgerplein in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, which served as arsenal of the Admiralty of Amsterdam. Designed by Daniël Stalpaert and constructe ...

naval arsenal, now the

Nederlands Scheepvaartmuseum The Maritime Museum (, ) is a maritime museum in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The museum had 419,060 visitors in 2012. It ranked as 11th most visited museum in the Netherlands in 2013. The museum had 300,000 visitors in 2015. In 2017 the mus ...

(Netherlands Maritime Museum). Appropriately, this work is on show in the Netherlands Maritime Museum. The 19th-century French etcher Charles Meryon was highly influenced by Nooms, whose etchings of Paris cityscapes inspired his own series of Paris etchings. Meryon dedicated some of these works to Nooms in poetic form.

References

External links

Maritime Art Greenwich
(archived)

* https://www.nga.gov/collection/artist-info.3456.html * https://open.smk.dk/artwork/image/KMSsp537?list=KKS10094 {{DEFAULTSORT:Nooms, Reinier Nooms, Reinier Nooms, Reinier Nooms, Reinier Nooms, Reinier Nooms, Reinier Nooms, Reinier Nooms, Reinier