Portrait of Jan Carel Josephus van Speyk

Portrait of the Dutch gunboat commander Jan Carel Josephus van Speyk, who on February 5, 1831, blew up his ship after it had fallen into the hands of an angry mob of Antwerpers. Below the portrait is the explosion of the ship, in which Van Speyk, most of his crew, and an unknown number of Belgians lost their lives. At the bottom is a laudatory poem on Van Speyk's heroic deed.