Pitched into the waves by his terrified companions, the prophet Jonah cannot escape the jaws of the predatory whale below. He looks tiny and helpless, but the painter Adam Willaerts does not allow us to focus on Jonah's predicament for long. Most of this oval painting is dominated by the mighty turbulence afflicting sky and sea and alike.

London-born Willaerts, who spent most of his adult life in Utrecht in the Netherlands, offers a depiction of the storm and its unnerving impact on five ships. They all appear fated to break up and sink forthwith. Nothing, not even the sacrificial gesture of hurling Jonah to his doom, seems capable of rescuing the vessels or their frantically gesturing crews.