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The engraving depicts the capture of the Spanish Silver Fleet in the Bay of Matanzas by a Dutch fleet under the command of Piet Hein. It is taken from Isaac Commelin "Frederick Hendrick van Nassauw, Prince va(n) Orangien, zyn leven en bedryf", Amsterdam, 1651. Isaac Commelin (1598-1676) was a Dutch historian.
In 1621, after the expiration of the Twelve Years' Truce with Spain, the newly founded Dutch West India Company (WIC) was given a monopoly on trade in West Africa, South America, the Caribbean, and North America. Delft, Rotterdam and Dordrecht formed a joint chamber, and each of these cities set up an office. One of the directors of the Rotterdam office was a captain and merchant from Delfshaven named Piet Hein. Seven years later, then an admiral in the WIC, he captured a Spanish treasure fleet sailing home from Mexico via Cuba. The booty was worth 11 million guilders, and Hein became a national hero.
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