Title: Plate LVII: View of the eruption of mount Vesuvius, Monday morning August the 9th 1779, and of the magnificent column of smoke which attended that eruption, taken from an original drawing done from nature at Pausilipo by M. Peter Fabris.
Creator: Pietro Fabris (fl 1740-1792)
Description: Published in Hamilton, W, ‘Campi Phlegraei, ou, observations sur les volcans des Deux Siciles’. Nouvelle éd. edn. Paris: Chez Lamy, (1799)
The source of this plate, ‘Campi Phlegraei…’, is a first hand account of the eruptions witnessed by Sir William Hamilton (1730-1803), British envoy to Naples between 1764-1767. Originally published in three volumes (1776-1779), the title took its name from the area around Naples popularly referred to as ‘Campi Phlegraei’ or ‘flaming fields’, owing to the frequent and violent eruptions of Mount Vesuvius.
Date: 1799
Format: Hand coloured etching
Image reference: 02-44
Recommended print size: Up to 20 x 16 inches (50 x 40cm)
