Beached Whale at Wijk aan Zee

This majestic engraving, full of detail is the largest and most elaborate Dutch print to depict a beached whale along the coast of Holland, an event that took place every few years. This beaching took place on December 20, 1601.

At the bottom center, Count Ernst Casimir of Nassau-Dietz lifts a large handkerchief towards his face to mask the smell of the deteriorating carcass. In the bottom left, the artist Jan Saenredam sketches the whale as his large cape engulfs the man beside him.Masses of people from all levels of society approach along the beach from the distance. The allegorical frame makes reference to the ominous events of that year that could be tied to the beaching of the whale. In the small cartouche at center inscribed "Terrae motus", an earthquake that took place off the coast of Holland is depicted (2 January, 1602). Along the top center, an eclipse of the moon and an eclipse of the sun (24 December, 1601) are depicted. On the left, the skeletal figure of Death shoots arrows at the falling Maid of Amsterdam, a reference to the plague that took place in that city in 1601-02.

Jan Saenredam was a prolific engraver who worked for several years with the artist Hendrick Goltzius. By the time he created this print, he had left Goltzius's studio a few years earlier and was working in Assendelft, not far from Wijk aan Zee where this beaching took place.