La Cisternazza

This interesting view at Etna around 1837, by landscape painter James Bridges (1799–1865), shows the crater 'La Cisternazza', which formed dramatically when the top part of Etna collapsed during the 1797 eruption. Not only were volcanoes a source of Romantic fascination at this time, but also Etna played a key role in contemporary debates about the age of the earth and the agencies of geomorphic change. Featured in Sir Charles Lyell's recent book, 'Principles of Geology' (1830–33)—referred to on the watercolour by Bridges—study of Etna helped formulate a theory of geological change as the steady accumulation of minute changes over enormously long spans of time—which would have a powerful influence on the young Charles Darwin.

Images

1) Cisterna, Mount Etna by James Bridges

2) Mount Etna by James Bridges © Trustees of the British Museum

3) Mount Etna illustration in Sir Charles Lyell's 'Principles of Geology' (1830–33)