Three Caravels in a Rising Squall with Arion on a Dolphin from The Sailing Vessels

Description

Three Caravels in a Rising Squall sends three ships through curling waves beneath a turbulent sky in this engraving after Pieter Bruegel the Elder. A small figure with a lyre appears with a dolphin near the foreground, introducing Arion’s mythical rescue into the maritime scene. The gathering squall makes the ships’ passage uncertain, while that tiny encounter gives the broad sea another point of narrative attention.

Made by Frans Huys between 1561 and 1565 for The Sailing Vessels, the print combines the particularity of ships with the imaginative possibilities of the ocean. Engraved lines give the scene its structure, allowing water, vessels and narrative detail to carry different rhythms. The image’s appeal lies in that mixture of recognition and invention. The sea is both a place through which people navigate and a setting where extraordinary events can enter the course of an ordinary voyage.

Read our guide to giclée prints or browse the Pieter Bruegel collection.