Oceanus

A powerfully muscled, bearded man sits astride a large aquatic creature with prominent gills and wide eyes. He holds a long staff or steering oar while his heavy cloak billows behind him like a sail, with smaller sea deities visible in the distant waves. This chiaroscuro woodcut uses tones of ochre and black to create a high-relief effect, typical of the late 16th-century style.

In the Renaissance Neoplatonic tradition, Oceanus represents the element of Water and the fluid 'prima materia' from which the physical world was formed. This print is part of a series on deities of the elements, reflecting the era's project of reconciling classical mythology with natural philosophy.