Kopie van de gestrande walvis bij Berckhey van 1598 als de walvis gestand bij Ancona in 1601 1601

This anonymous print combines two events; a beached whale at Berckhey in 1598 and another at Ancona in 1601. During the early modern period, whales were seen as both monstrous and useful. The whale, beached and at the mercy of the townspeople, became a site of resource extraction. These prints, circulated widely, tell us much about our relationship to the natural world. Look closely, notice how the community interacts with the whale, a collective claiming of the body of the whale. What does it mean to see this magnificent creature, usually an inhabitant of the deep ocean, rendered still and lifeless on the beach? The print captures a moment of tension between respect and utility, between the individual and the community, echoing our complex relationship with the environment.