A Beach with Fishermen Cutting Up a Whale and the Prophet Elijah
Medium
engraving on laid paper
Dimensions
sheet: 25.5 × 34 cm (10 1/16 × 13 3/8 in.) plate: 21 × 26.6 cm (8 1/4 × 10 1/2 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund
Accession Number
2023.103.3
Art Historical Context
In the 1620s, Dutch engraver Magdalena van de Passe this intricate print, *A Beach with Fishermen Up a Whale and the Elijah*, drawing on designs by fellow Northern artists Roelandt Sav and Adam Willaerts Savery, a Flemish master of detailed landscapes and wildlife, and Willaerts, renowned for his lively beach scenes, provided the compositional foundation. Van de Passe's engraving on laid paper—measuring about 10 by 13 inches—capt a bustling Dutch shoreline where fishermen process a massive beached whale, a rare spectacle blending everyday maritime labor with the miraculous biblical figure of E...