This book examines a small group of sixteenth-century Antwerp artworks depicting the butchering of beached whales, revealing how these images represent a pivotal moment in European attitudes toward nature. It argues that these "cetaceous units"—iconographic compounds showing humans dominating marine mammals—served as powerful symbols of humanity's relationship with the ocean and the natural world more broadly, marking a transition from medieval moralizing approaches to early modern empirical investigation. The study provides a detailed iconographical analysis of works by artists such as Herri met de Bles, Master J. Kock, Anton van den Wyngaerde, and Hendrick Goltzius. It traces the evolution of whale imagery from ancient Roman sources through medieval bestiaries to Renaissance naturalist texts, examining how flensing scenes reflected contemporary whaling practices while symbolizing Christian themes and political authority. The study incorporates ecocritical methodology to demonstrate how these images justified European exploitation of natural resources and established visual precedents for later scientific illustration. This book will appeal to art historians specializing in early modern art, environmental historians, and scholars of ecocriticism. It offers valuable insights for researchers interested in human–animal relationships, maritime history, and the intersection of art with scientific inquiry during the Renaissance period.

本書は、打ち上げられた巨鯨の解体という凄惨な光景が、いかに中世的戒めから近代科学への転換点となったかを鋭く抉り出します。グレッグの筆致は美術史の枠を超え、未知を支配しようとする人類の執念を鮮烈に描写。ホルツィウスらの傑作に刻まれたクジラの死は、自然を搾取の対象へと変えた文明の分水嶺として、現代人の胸に深く突き刺さります。 巨大な死骸を囲む人々の狂騒を読み解く視座は、環境史と美術が交差する贅沢な知的体験です。古代の神話から博物学へ変容する図像の変遷を辿る旅は、海を見るあなたの眼差しを根底から覆すことでしょう。絵画の裏に潜む政治と信仰、そして自然への傲慢な眼差しを解き明かす、魂を揺さぶる名著です。