Artwork Page for Eruption of Mount Aetna in 1669

Details / Information for Eruption of Mount Aetna in 1669

Series Title: Botanical Extracts: or, Philosophy of Botany

Eruption of Mount Aetna in 1669

1809

Thomas Sutherland

(British, 1785–1838)

after Romagni

(Italian?, 17th century?)
publisher

Robert John Thornton

(British, 1768–1837)
Culture
England, 18th century
Medium
aquatint with engraving
Measurements
Image: 54.4 x 41.4 cm (21 7/16 x 16 5/16 in.); Sheet: 57.2 x 41.4 cm (22 1/2 x 16 5/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Robert Hays Gries 1959.295
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print
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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.
An aquatint engraving depicts a landscape in monochromatic tones of a volcano erupting at night. At the center, Mount Etna discharges a bright plume of debris and a dark, bulbous smoke cloud against a sky marked by lightning. In the lower left, a full moon reflects over water where small figures stand along the shore. Near the bottom center, a boat floats. Text reads, "ERUPTION OF MOUNT ÆTNA IN 1669."

Eruption of Mount Aetna in 1669

1809

Thomas Sutherland, Romagni, Robert John Thornton

(British, 1785–1838), (Italian?, 17th century?), (British, 1768–1837)
England, 18th century

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