Gevecht met een ijsbeer, 1596 1598

This engraving, "Fight with a Polar Bear," was made in 1596 by an anonymous artist. It’s an early example of the printmaker’s art, created by meticulously incising lines into a metal plate, inking the surface, and then pressing paper against it. The stark, graphic quality of the lines gives us a vivid sense of the dangers faced by Dutch explorers. We see the texture of the choppy sea, the heft of the wooden boats, and the desperation in the figures’ faces as they confront the polar bear. The scene is set against a backdrop of ships and the desolate landscape of Bear Island, or 'Bernland' as it's labelled here. The print would have been made in multiples, and would have circulated widely, serving as a kind of mass media. As such, it provides a fascinating window into the relationship between labor, politics, and consumption at a key moment in the history of Dutch maritime power. It reminds us that even seemingly simple images have complex stories to tell, challenging our conventional understanding of art history.