Note on the Image                                                              back to the image   

M1.  Exploration Ship, Half Moon, anchored in the Hudson river in 1609

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The Halve Maen (English: Half Moon) was a Dutch East India Company vieboot (similar to a  carrack) 

which sailed into what is  now New York Harbor in September 1609. The ship was captained by

Henry Hudson , an Englishman in the service of the Dutch Republic.

The HALF MOON sailed up Hudson’s river as far as the present day location of Albany, New York and 

sailed north-eastward, never realizing that are now the islands of Manhattan and Long island.

In 1618 the ship was destroyed  during an English attack on Jakarta, in the Dutch East Indies.

The basic construction of this painting is a circular composition which the objects or lines carry the eye safely around until we have completed the entire circuit.

The placement of the cliff at the left helps the perspective. The large ship which crosses the middle of the canvas is well balanced by the isolation of small ship in the distance.