Ludolf Backhuysen focuses on three themes: his stylistic development, the unique quality of his paintings, and the meaning of the marine genre. Based on the author's literature search, the book shows that a number of paintings formerly thought to be by Backhuysen should actually be attributed to his contemporaries. Ludolf Backhuysen is the first, very thorough (and thus unique) monograph about this great master of 17th-century seascapes. Backhuysen's family documents, never before published, give this work an added dimension.