Brief Biography-Hendrik Cornelisz Vroom, the son of a sculptor and potter, was born in Haarlem c. 1565. He came from a family of artists, including his three sons, most notably Cornelis Hendricksz the Younger. Due to his marine subjects, Hendrik was successful in Spain and worked in Italy for two years under Cardinal Ferdinando de’ Medici in Florence. Paul Bril, a landscape painter, and friend of Hendrik in Rome, influenced his background landscapes. He visited Paris before returning to Haarlem and painted religious subjects to bring to Spain. However, he got shipwrecked in Portugal and painted many seascapes there, which he devoted himself to painting back in Haarlem. While on a commission in England to design tapestries of the defeat of the Spanish Armada, Isaac Oliver had the opportunity to paint his portrait. Simon de Vlieger, master of Willem van de Velde the Younger, was one of his students.