Abbildung des Erschrecht: brands des bergs Aetna. So geschehen Anno 1669

Dramatic depiction of Mount Etna's 1669 eruptive activity; on the left side of the print highlighting the volcano emitting fire and smoke, from which lava flows toward the coast. On the right side is the city of Catania with its harbor, severely damaged by the devastating eruption, and behind it the Strait of Messina. In the foreground can be seen numerous people fleeing and on the right several boats arrived to help. In the upper center is the title in German.

Etching, ca. 1677, unsigned and without editorial indications. Plate from the famous Theatrum Europaeum. Beschreibung aller Geschichten so sich 1617[-1718] zugetragen haben. Beschrieben durch J. P. Abelin [et al.].

Famous chronicle of the century, illustrated by Matthaeus Merian and his successors, acclaimed as the first and most complete source for the time of Louis XIV and the Thirty Years' War. It had a very long period of publication, nearly 100 years; the numerous maps, views, portraits and illustrations of historical events and battles give the work historical and cultural value.

The number and arrangement of engravings varies in the various editions; Wüthrich indicates a maximum inventory of 693 different plates with 722 illustrations. Matthaeus Merian the Elder himself engraved about 140 of the plates in the Theatrum.

This engraving is attributed to Caspar Merian (1627-1686), son and pupil of Matthäus Merian.

The eruption of Etna took place on March 11, 1669; it was to be the largest lateral eruption of Etna to occur in the last four centuries both volcanologically and historically. Therefore, 1669 was called by the people affected by the volcanic event the year of the great "ruina" (ruin).

During that phenomenon from the main mouth, located 800 m above sea level near Nicolosi, about 600 million m3 of lava were erupted, generating a vast lava field 17 km long, affecting a large part of what today is the territory of the metropolitan area of Catania and in particular the municipalities of Belpasso, Camporotondo Etneo, Catania, Gravina di Catania, Mascalucia, Misterbianco, Nicolosi, Pedara and San Pietro Clarenza.

The eruption ended four months later, on July 11, after generating the largest volcanic emergency ever on Etna, reaching the sea and displacing with "new land" the coastline by just under a kilometer. A dramatic and at the same time extraordinary event, documented by numerous chronicles of the time, Italian and foreign travelers, numerous iconographies and precious devotional objects.

Caspar Merian (1627 -1686) was one of the most important engravers and topographical editors of the Baroque period. He came from the Frankfurt branch of the Merian family of Basel. Caspar was the son and pupil of engraver Matthäus Merian the Elder (1593-1650) and his wife Maria Magdalena, née de Bry. He worked as his father's assistant for a time in Paris and Nuremberg. After his father's death, he ran the Frankfurt publishing house together with his brother Matthäus the Younger, continuing to publish the major works begun by his father, the Topographia Germaniae and the Theatrum Europaeum, and producing numerous other engravings for them.

Fine example, in good condition.