Copperplate engraving depicting the cutting up of a beached whale, seen at a three-quarters view, looking out to the sea. Interesting details of the image have been labeled with numbers corresponding to the descriptive text in the caption below (in Dutch); some of the numbers, including 6, are printed as their mirror image [to make them appear correctly in the print, they must be carved as mirror images on the copper], indicating that the engraver was inexperienced. Indeed, in the central panel of the caption, which gives the title and artist attribution, Johannes Swertner is identified as being 15 years old. This may have been one of his first engravings.
