#spritsail

Copenhagen Sarcophagus, dated approximately 220-240 AD, depicting a Roman ship with a spritsail

The marble sculpture shows three nude male figures aboard a ship in rough waters.One figure is in the water next to the ship, while another sea creature is visible beneath the waves.

The ship depicted is an ancient Roman trading vessel, notable for its use of a spritsail (a square sail supported by a diagonal spar). This depiction is one of the earliest and clearest visual evidences of the use of the spritsail in antiquity.

Spritsail and bowsprit from the book "Seamanship in the Age of Sail" by John H. Harland.

The bowsprit of a sailing vessel is a spar extending forward from the vessel's prow.

Bowsprit of the Batavia (x)

The bowsprit is typically held down by a bobstay that counteracts the forces from the forestays.

(x)

The word bowsprit is thought to originate from the Middle Low German word bōchsprēt – bōch meaning "bow" and sprēt meaning "pole".

On large sailing ships a spritsail, a square-rigged sail, carried on a yard below the bowsprit and were commonly used on sailing vessels from the first carracks of the 14th century.

The Batavia flying a spritsail (lower right) and a sprit-topsail (x)