Zee Schlach voormDuynkercken door Marten H. Tromp Anno 1638.

Title

Zee Schlach voormDuynkercken door Marten H. Tromp Anno 1638.

Description

Representation of the battle at Duennkirchen, 1639. Exceptionally detailled copper engraving of the sea battle before the coast of Dunkirk. The naval Battle of the Downs took place on 21 October 1639, during the Eighty Years' War, and was a decisive defeat of the Spanish, commanded by Admiral Antonio de Oquendo, by the United Provinces, commanded by Lieutenant-Admiral Maarten Tromp.

ca. 1729

Artist

Aa, van der (1659-1733)

Pieter van der Aa ( 1659 - 1733) was a Dutch publisher best known for preparing maps and atlases, though he also printed pirated editions of foreign bestsellers and illustrated volumes. He also printed many maps that were often out of print, which he reissued. Some of his most popular maps were of the African continent, detailing locations such as Morocco and Madagascar. Many of his later works were printed for the general public in French and Dutch. Pieter van der Aa began his career at Leiden in 1683 as a Latin trade publisher, publishing classical texts pertaining to medicine and science. As he progressed, he began to publish atlases and maps, compiling numerous multi-volume collections of works. His ambition to become Leiden's most famous printer was fulfilled in 1715 with his appointment to head printer for the city and its university. One of Pieter van der Aa's largest compilations relates to the history of Italy and Sicily, an area of immense personal interest. Though he took credit for many of his compilations, several, such as the Dutch collection of travels to the East and West Indies, were admittedly simple improvements to others' works.

Historical Description

The art of war is the theory and practice of the preparation, conduct and execution of combat operations of various dimensions in all spheres, which emerged with the formation of war and the armed forces. The art of war includes more than just warfare. It is divided into three components according to the increasing scale of combat operations: tactics, operational art and strategy. The art of war emerged in the period of transition from the gentile order (The origin of the family, private property and the state) to the class society in a long historical process and developed in connection with the gradual formation of states and the military. It is connected with the politics of peoples, states, classes, nations and coalitions of alliances, as well as the armed forces, and the wars they fought and military theoretical thinking. The oldest European written records on warfare date from the time of the Trojan War (ca. 1300 BCE), namely from Homer's work Iliad. The process of development towards the art of war intensified in the 5th/4th century B.C.E. in the countries of the Near East and North Africa, and continued in Europe for centuries until the 5th century B.C.E. The term art of war first appeared in European military writings in the 16th/17th century. It referred to the activity of the commander in war. Between 1519 and 1520, Niccolò Machiavelli wrote The Art of War or Dell'arte della guerra, which mainly describes military affairs and reports on tactics, strategy and politics in feudal society. Until the 18th century, military affairs and the command of troops were often understood as a craft of war or art rather than a science. Principles and rules of the art of war in late feudal armies were reflected in the writings of the French marshals Henri de la Tour d`Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne (1611-1675), and Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban (1633-1707), the Austro-imperial generals Raimund von Montecuccoli (1609-1680) and Prince Eugene of Savoy (1663-1736), and the Prussian king Frederick II. and in the 17th/18th century. An outstanding representative of a new art of war was the French Emperor Napoleon I (1769-1821).