The painting represents a sea battle between a Dutch ship displaying the coat of arms of the city of Amsterdam on the prow and an English vessel flying the standard with the Cross of St George. The compositional structure of the seascape situates it in the first quarter of the seventeenth century and in the milieu of Hendrick Cornelisz. Vroom (ca. 1566-1640). The canvas is not in good condition, as much of the glaze is missing, particularly from the sails and the clouds, though recent cleaning has revealed a rich colouring and, above all, a handling of the water based on long, undulating brushstrokes that suggest it may be a product of the hand of Aert Anthonisz. According to the archives of the Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, the attribution to Anthonisz. was initially made by Abraham Bredius and it is currently backed by Sabine Craft-Giepmans.

Posada Kubissa, Teresa, Pintura holandesa en el Museo Nacional del Prado. Catálogo razonado, Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, 2009, p.24-25