Drawing, Whale Hunt by the Emperor Claudius at Ostia

This is a Drawing. It was created by Jan van der Straet, called Stradanus and published by Philips Galle and engraved by Adriaen Collaert and subject: Pliny the Elder. It is dated 1596 or before and we acquired it in 1901. Its medium is recto: pen and brown ink, brush and brown and black washes over black chalk on laid paper verso: pen and brown ink on laid paper. It is a part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design department.

This object was featured in our Object of the Week series in a post titled Battling with an Orca.

It is credited Museum purchase through gift of various donors.

Its dimensions are

H x W: 10.3 × 13.8 cm (4 1/16 × 5 7/16 in.)

It has the following markings

Stamped on recto at lower left with mark for The Cooper Union Museum (Lugt 457c).

It is inscribed

Verso, inscribed in pen and ink: "nel porto de Hostia claudio imperadore prese un orca pesse balena Rra venuta quivi allettata dal naufragio di pelle venute di francia li quali seguendo si ficco nel lido, Cesare fece tendere molto Reti alle focci del porto et andandovi con i soldati di sua guardia fece vedere bello spettacolo al popolo Romano tiravano i soldati lange da barchetti, uno de quali si sommerse essendo ripeno al aqua che sottiava la bestia nel med(esi)mo capitolo"

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