The Dutch Whaling Fleet
Abraham Storck
c. 1695
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
49 × 63.7 cm (19 1/4 × 25 in.)
Classification
european painting
Department
Painting and Sculpture of Europe
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
111728
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
This marine painting casts the drama of the Arctic whaling industry against pink skies. In the frigid waters, sailors harpoon bowhead whales and harvest their blubber to render it into products like lamp oil and soap. On the icy shore, a group of hunters close in on two polar bears. In the Dutch imagination, polar bears were vicious creatures that exemplified the region’s dangers. Their defeat here alludes to the Dutch Republic’s dominance over the rugged ecosystem, as well as the whaling indust...