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Jonah Cast Out by the Whale onto the Shore of Nineveh
About the Artwork
In this dramatic composition, the Old Testament prophet Jonah floats midair after being vomited onto dry land by a giant fish. The artist Maarten van Heemskerck drew the composition as the second of four illustrations of episodes from the biblical book of Jonah, which describes how the prophet was swallowed by a fish and regurgitated after three days. Jonah’s trial was often interpreted as a metaphor for exile and redemption, or for Christ’s resurrection. Heemskerck was one of the most prolific designers of prints in the Netherlands in the mid-1500s. Working with the engraver Philips Galle in his native city of Haarlem, the drawing was indented with a dull knife for transfer onto a copperplate to be engraved. Heemskerck was an instrumental figure in bringing ideas about Italian art to northern Europe. Here, he incorporates architecture and figures reminiscent of types he saw and sketched on a trip to Italy in the 1530s.
Inscriptions
signed and dated in brown ink: Martyn Heemskerck / 1566; inscribed in black chalk, verso: van heemskerck / histori van jonas no 27, and dese 4 a 5 ...stuk is.. (?)
Provenance
Jacob Jansz Guldewaghen, Burgermeester of Haarlem by descent to his son, Jan Jacobsz Guldewaghen Pieter Saenredam, Haarlem [1597-1665] 1669: his sale, April 9-10, 1669, Haarlem (Het Prinsenhof). Adriaan Van der Willigen [Dutch, 1766-1841] by descent to his nephew, Adriaan Van der Willigen II [Dutch, 1810-1876] 1874: his sale, June 10–11, 1874, A.G. De Visser, The Hague, lot 111 (sold with full set of 4 drawings from the Jonah series); purchased by Dircksen 1874–: with Dirk Dircksen, The Hague ?–1947: Sir R. Brinsley Ford [1908-1999], London, England 1947: Sold, February 26, 1947, Sotheby & Co., London, lot 30 “Four scenes from the Old Testament.” Purchased at the sale by Colnaghi, London (£50) 1947: Sir Robert Witt [1872-1952], London, England 1949: with Heinrich Eisenmann, London, England 1950: with Elkin Mathews, Ltd, London, ca. 1950 (cat. 129) before 1953–2024: Dr. Einar Perman [1893-1976], Stockholm, by descent to the present owners by descent, Stockholm 2024: (Sotheby's, New York, NY), sold to The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH June 3, 2024–: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Maarten van Heemskerck (Dutch, 1498–1574)
- Date
- 1566
- Medium
- Pen and brown ink over indications in black chalk, within brown ink framing lines; indented for transfer
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 19.6 x 25 cm (7 11/16 x 9 13/16 in.)
- Type
- Drawing
- Classification
- Drawing
- Department
- Drawings
- Credit line
- Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund
- Accession no.
- 2024.28
More by Maerten van Heemskerck in museum collections
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00011138
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