In this work for the Salón de Reinos at the Buen Retiro Palace, Eugenio Cajés depicts the defence and recovery of the bay of Puerto Rico from the Dutch attack of September 1625, led by Admiral Baldwin Henry. The Dutch entered the bay on 25 September and in the following two days occupied the space between the city and the castle of San Felipe, which was defended and governed by Don Juan de Haro. The siege lasted 28 days and ended after Haro twice refused to surrender and the city was set on fire on 22 October. On that day, a Spanish garrison under the command of Captain Juan de Amézqueta, at great risk and with the water up to their waists, forced the Dutch to re-embark (this is how Gonzalo de Céspedes y Meneses recounted it in Primera parte de la historia de don Felipe III, rey de Españas). The Dutch finally left the port on 3 November, leaving behind them 400 dead and a 500-ton ship with 30 pieces of artillery that ran aground. The figures in the foreground are Juan de Amézqueta and Juan de Haro. Behind them are Spanish troops pushing the Dutch into the sea and several enemy ships. It has been noted that the background bears a striking resemblance to the real landscape. The painter’s letters of payment and will show that he received a total of 700 ducats for the two works commissioned, one of them being this one and the other “The Expulsion of the Dutch from the Island of Saint Martin by the Marquis of Calderita” (a work that disappeared after the War of Independence, possibly having been taken by Sebastiani or some other French general). It seems certain that Cajés did not complete this representation, as Antonio Puga stated in his will that he had worked at Cajés’ house, by order of the painter, on the paintings in the Salón de Reinos, as did Luis Fernández, receiving 800 reales for having finished the painting that Cajés had begun. It has been suggested that this composition was provided by Carducho.
Collection: Images
Project: 5. Power and powers in the history of Europe: oligarchies, political participation and democracy., 6. Under a cloak of terror: violence and armed conflict in Europe.
Chronology: XVII
Scope: Secondary Education, Baccalaureate, University
Resource type: Image
Format: Oil on canvas (290 x 344 cm)
Source: Museo Nacional del Prado (Madrid)
Language: Spanish
Date: 1634-35
Owner: Álvaro Romero González (Modernalia)
Identifier: P000653
Copyright: Museo del Prado (Madrid)
Abstract: Representation of the recovery of San Juan de Puerto Rico, a work that forms part, along with others, of the commemoration of a series of land and naval victories that smiled on the armies of the Hispanic Monarchy during the first period of the Thirty Years' War. These canvases were destined for the Salón de Reinos of the Buen Retiro Palace.
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