Vues des travaux de dissection de la Baleine (...) / Gezigt der ontledings-werkzaamheden van den Walvisch en van het ter dier gelegendheid gegeven feest (...) 18en November 1827 (...) 1827 - 1828

Michel Thomas Antoine Van Cuyck created this print in 1827, depicting the spectacle of a whale dissection. The scene is rendered in a precise, almost clinical manner. The whale's carcass dominates the composition, its massive form bisected and suspended, becoming a focal point of scientific curiosity. The artist’s rendering of the bones lined up in a row reminds me of a musical score and its emphasis on the linear arrangement and rhythm of the vertebrae. The architecture of the building in the background seems to mimic the structure of the whale. The print invites us to consider how we categorize and understand the natural world through the lens of science and spectacle. It is an image that challenges our understanding of nature as something to be revered and studied. It becomes an object of public display. The very act of dissection destabilizes the whale's inherent value.