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Vrouw Maria
The air conditioning finally kicked on in the apartment. Ah, bliss! At least I don't feel like I'm in a deep fryer.
Deep Sea Detectives continues to feed my interest in underwater archaeology. This week's program focused on the wreck of a Dutch cargo ship called the Vrouw Maria. The ship wrecked off the Finnish coast in the Baltic Sea in 1771. Besides the obvious cold waters, the Baltic sea has very little salinity and none of the worms that eat away most shipwrecks, so the wreck is in beautiful condition. However the sediment creates poor lighting conditions. They showed them having to rig up the equivalent of the lighting rigging needed for a Rolling Stones concert to see the wreck below.
Vrouw Maria's cargo included a bunch of paintings by Dutch masters purchased at auction by Catherine the Great. Gerret Braamcamps, a Dutch timber merchant died, leaving behind a large collection of paintings. They're not even entirely sure what was on board the ship. Through the process of elimination, they've wittled it down to a possible eleven paintings from Braamcamps collection. The one that fetched the highest price was a triptych by Gerard Dou. Some of the remainders which were not bought by Catherine, including a Vermeer, wound up at the Rijkmuseum in Amsterdam.
The situation has legal issues as well. The ship was discovered off the Finnish coast, but was a Dutch ship on the way to Russia. So who owns the wreck? The Finns think the answer is quite straight forward. Their legislation basically states any wrecks found in their waters belong to the government. The person who spent years trying to find the wreck obviously thinks otherwise. I haven't quite found out what is the status of the lawsuit. I almost wish I was still working at LC. Researching foreign law stuff is so much easier there.
Deep Sea Detectives continues to feed my interest in underwater archaeology. This week's program focused on the wreck of a Dutch cargo ship called the Vrouw Maria. The ship wrecked off the Finnish coast in the Baltic Sea in 1771. Besides the obvious cold waters, the Baltic sea has very little salinity and none of the worms that eat away most shipwrecks, so the wreck is in beautiful condition. However the sediment creates poor lighting conditions. They showed them having to rig up the equivalent of the lighting rigging needed for a Rolling Stones concert to see the wreck below.
Vrouw Maria's cargo included a bunch of paintings by Dutch masters purchased at auction by Catherine the Great. Gerret Braamcamps, a Dutch timber merchant died, leaving behind a large collection of paintings. They're not even entirely sure what was on board the ship. Through the process of elimination, they've wittled it down to a possible eleven paintings from Braamcamps collection. The one that fetched the highest price was a triptych by Gerard Dou. Some of the remainders which were not bought by Catherine, including a Vermeer, wound up at the Rijkmuseum in Amsterdam.
The situation has legal issues as well. The ship was discovered off the Finnish coast, but was a Dutch ship on the way to Russia. So who owns the wreck? The Finns think the answer is quite straight forward. Their legislation basically states any wrecks found in their waters belong to the government. The person who spent years trying to find the wreck obviously thinks otherwise. I haven't quite found out what is the status of the lawsuit. I almost wish I was still working at LC. Researching foreign law stuff is so much easier there.