The Dutch Whaling Fleet

This marine painting casts the drama of the Arctic whaling industry against pink skies. In the frigid waters, sailors harpoon bowhead whales and harvest their blubber to render it into products like lamp oil and soap. On the icy shore, a group of hunters close in on two polar bears. In the Dutch imagination, polar bears were vicious creatures that exemplified the region’s dangers. Their defeat here alludes to the Dutch Republic’s dominance over the rugged ecosystem, as well as the whaling industry, of which it had a majority share throughout the 17th century.