Eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 1769

Series Title: Botanical Extracts: or, Philosophy of Botany

1808

Robert John Thornton

(British, 1768–1837)

Culture

England, 18th century

Medium

aquatint with engraving

Measurements

Image: 43.1 x 54.5 cm (16 15/16 x 21 7/16 in.); Sheet: 49 x 62.7 cm (19 5/16 x 24 11/16 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Robert Hays Gries 1959.294

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Location

Not on view

Did You Know?

Active volcanoes like Mount Etna and Mount Vesuvius were a popular destination for European tourists visiting Italy in the 1700s.

Description

With the eruptions of Mount Etna and Mount Vesuvius in the 1700s, volcanoes entered the scientific and popular imagination of Enlightenment Europe. Scientists and philosophers theorized the origins of these spectacular displays; curious tourists visiting Italy wrote home with accounts of burning rivers and destroyed towns. The rediscovery of the ancient sites of Herculaneum and Pompeii, buried by Mount Vesuvius’s eruption in 79 CE, added further fuel to the fire. Attempting to capture the drama of these cataclysmic events, artists innovatively used the tonal range of aquatint and the white of the paper to evoke the dramatic effects of spewing hot lava and burning clouds of volcanic ash.