Leviathan, balaena
Date1731
Object number00019685
NameEngraving
MediumInk on paper
DimensionsOverall: 580 x 425 mm, 0.277 kg
Sheet: 410 x 255 mm
Sight: 320 x 210 mm
Mount: 580 x 425 mm, 5 mm
Image: 320 x 210 mm
ClassificationsArt
Credit LineANMM Collection
DescriptionEngraving of a whaling scene the 'Physica Sacra or a natural history of the Bible' by Johann Jakob Scheuchzer (1672 - 1733) published in 1731 in Ausburg, Germany. In his work Scheuchzer tried to link creatures and occurances in the Bible with the natural world, in this engraving he equates the Leviathan with whales and provides the relevant bible quote from the Book of Job.HistoryJohann Jakob Scheuchzer (1672 – 1733), a Swiss scholar born at Zürich, planned the multi - volume Physica Sacra as an explanation of and a commentary on the Bible on natural and scientific grounds. He himself oversaw the illustrations which were largely based on his own natural history cabinet or on other famous European cabinets of rare specimens. He entrusted the central designs to Johann Melchior Füssli and the elaborate borders to Johann Daniel Preissler, and they were engraved by highly skilled engravers including Georg Daniel Heumann and Johann August Corvinus
