Storm-Tossed Ships Wrecked on a Rocky Coast 

Johann Christoph Dietzsch created this watercolor painting of storm-tossed ships sometime in the 1700s. Painted on paper, the artist has built up layers of dilute pigment to create this dramatic scene. Look closely and you can see that it's not just a generalized picture of a storm. Dietzsch has carefully depicted the textures of the waves, the jagged rocks, and the splintered remains of the ships. The translucency of watercolor allows light to penetrate the image, as if illuminating the scene from behind the clouds. There's a story of labor and risk implied here. Each ship represents countless hours of skilled work, from felling trees to complex carpentry. These vessels were built for trade, for carrying commodities around the world. Now, all that effort is reduced to wreckage. While Dietzsch’s refined technique may mark this as a work of fine art, it is also a potent reminder of the human cost of maritime commerce.