Portrait of Jan Carel Josephus van Speyk

Portrait of the Dutch gunboat commander Jan Carel Josephus van Speyk, who blew up his ship on 5 February 1831 after it had fallen into the hands of an angry mob of Antwerpers. Below the portrait 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 a poem of praise for Van Speyk's heroic deed.