Whale-oil Refinery near Village of Smerenburg, by Cornelis de Man, 1639, Dutch painting. Painting of Dutch whaling settlement on Spitsbergen Island. The artist never saw the place, but constructed the image from existing descriptions, prints, and drawings. The blubber is harvested from Whale carcass. In center and right, it is cut in small pieces for rendered into liquid fat in large cauldrons. After clarification, the oil is stored in barrels. The men’s barracks can be seen in the right background. (BSLOC_2016_3_194)