Vesuvius in Eruption

Joseph Mallord William Turner’s dramatic representation of Mount Vesuvius is one of numerous artistic iterations of erupting volcanoes from the late eighteenth to the early nineteenth century. Turner visited Naples and ascended Vesuvius in 1819; however, he never witnessed an eruption firsthand and this composition likely preceded his Italian sojourn. His imagined conception of the natural disaster reflects an interest in the aesthetics of the sublime as well as a subtle awareness of breakthroughs in geology. The study of volcanoes in the eighteenth century contributed to a paradigmatic shift in the scientific community, specifically surrounding the age of the earth and the evolution of its landmasses.