Vergaan van het schip Drenthe, 1784 1784

Carel Frederik Bendorp created this print titled *Vergaan van het schip Drenthe* in 1784. The etching depicts the wreckage of the Dutch East India Company ship Drenthe in a storm. At the time this print was made, the Dutch East India Company held a monopoly on trade routes to Asia, and these ships were vital links. Here, the artist develops an alternative narrative around the often glorified vision of colonialism. Through the emotional depiction of the ship’s destruction, Bendorp invites us to contemplate the human cost and precarity of maritime trade and Dutch colonial power. Consider the social hierarchy inherent in a sailing vessel; from the captain down to the lowest deckhand, each life aboard was valued differently. This image captures the moment when those distinctions are erased by the indifferent power of nature. The sinking of the Drenthe becomes a stark reminder of the human lives, often unnamed and unacknowledged, that were risked and sometimes lost in the pursuit of global commerce.