Fantastische waterdieren, onder andere dolfijn en pitvis 1581 - 1656

This is an anonymous engraving titled *Fantastische waterdieren, onder andere dolfijn en pitvis*, or Fantastic aquatic animals, including dolphin and lumpsucker, now held in the Rijksmuseum. During a time of great seafaring exploration, the sea, for Europeans, was still a place of mystery. *Fantastische waterdieren* reflects this cultural moment where the line between scientific observation and mythical imagining was blurred. We see a collection of fanciful sea creatures, their forms a hybrid of known fish and pure invention. Each is carefully labeled, lending an air of scientific authenticity to these impossible beings. The print is not just a bestiary of imagined sea life but also speaks to a human desire to map, name, and thus control the unknown. It encapsulates a colonial mindset which sought to classify and catalogue the world, turning the mysterious into the known, and transforming the ocean depths into a space of conquest and exploitation. Yet there is also a sense of wonder, and the emotional resonance of encountering the unknown.