Dutch Northeast Arctic expedition. Artwork of a scene from the Dutch expedition of 1596-7 that attempted to find a Northeast passage through the Arctic from Europe to the East Indies. The ship led by William Barents and Jacob van Heemskerk became trapped at Novaya Zemlya. The 16-man crew built a winter lodge (Het Behouden Huys, The Saved House), shot polar bears, and used small boats to reach safety in 1597. Four, including Barents, died on the ice or at sea. Artwork from 'Rerum et urbis Amstelodamensium historia' (1611) a history of Amsterdam by Dutch-Danish royal historiographer Johannes Isacius Pontanus (1571-1639).