On 7 June 1672 off the east coast of England, the battle of Solebay started between the navy of the Republic of the Seven United Provinces and a combined Anglo-French fleet. Although the outcome was undecided, on both sides of the North Sea, the battle was celebrated as a triumph. Dutch marine artist Willem van de Velde the Elder (1611-1693) had been present at the battle. Only a year later, newly appointed as marine painter to the English royal court of King Charles II, he was commissioned to make a design for a set of monumental tapestries commemorating the battle at Solebay as an English victory.THE SOLEBAY TAPESTRIES | THREADS OF HISTORY is the first volume in a new series about objects in the collection of the Scheepvaartmuseum, the national maritime museum of the Netherlands.