âVerscheurende Beyrenâ
Fighting polar bears in early modern Netherlandish art
In: Netherlands Yearbook for History of Art / Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek OnlineSearch for other papers by Robert Bauernfeind in
Current site
Google Scholar
This article examines the depiction of polar bears in Dutch painting and graphics from the late 16th to the early 18th centuries. Reports of the first encounters between Dutch humans and polar bears established the idea of these animals as aggressive predators. This idea dominated the image of the bear in illustrated travelogues as well as in allegorical depictions of the Arctic and whaling pictures. The polar bear thus became a symbol for the dangers of the region and appears as an obstacle to the human exploitation of the Arctic. However, depictions of the bloody hunt for polar bears indicate the economically motivated triumph of Europeans in this inhospitable area.
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| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 401 | 58 | 8 |
| Full Text Views | 22 | 1 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 80 | 6 | 0 |
âVerscheurende Beyrenâ
Fighting polar bears in early modern Netherlandish art
In: Netherlands Yearbook for History of Art / Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek OnlineSearch for other papers by Robert Bauernfeind in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
This article examines the depiction of polar bears in Dutch painting and graphics from the late 16th to the early 18th centuries. Reports of the first encounters between Dutch humans and polar bears established the idea of these animals as aggressive predators. This idea dominated the image of the bear in illustrated travelogues as well as in allegorical depictions of the Arctic and whaling pictures. The polar bear thus became a symbol for the dangers of the region and appears as an obstacle to the human exploitation of the Arctic. However, depictions of the bloody hunt for polar bears indicate the economically motivated triumph of Europeans in this inhospitable area.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 401 | 58 | 8 |
| Full Text Views | 22 | 1 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 80 | 6 | 0 |
