
The Whale-oil Refinery near the Village of Smerenburg
1639
- Medium
- canvas
- Dimensions
- 108 × 205 cm
- Status
- In Museum Collection
- Collect24 Art ID
- C24-107466
Smerenburg on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen was a settlement of Dutch whalers. As the painter never went there, he combined familiar images and stories in this work. The mountain at the left is probably on Jan Mayen Island. Strips of whale blubber are boiled and rendered into train (whale) oil in the numerous try-pots on the beach. The men’s barracks are visible in the right background.
Provenance
Purchased with the support of the Vereniging Rembrandt
Registry history
- 1639 — Recorded in the collection of Rijksmuseum
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