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Jakob Philipp Hackert’s painting will be sold at Lyon & Turnbull’s in Edinburgh next week.
A “dramatic” painting of Mount Vesuvius erupting in 1774 by an artist said to have witnessed the event is to go under the hammer next week.
Landscape artist Jakob Philipp Hackert’s painting will be auctioned at Lyon & Turnbull in Edinburgh, where it is expected to fetch between £20,000 and £30,000.
According to a biography of Hackert by his friend the writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the artist witnessed the eruption in Italy himself and courageously made a series of live sketches and studies of it.
The German artist used these for reference when painting views of the scene after he returned to Rome, where he had settled in 1768.
The eruption in 1774 came at the height of popularity of the so-called Grand Tour, a journey that wealthy British and European travellers would make around Europe to visit classical sites.
Travellers often collected souvenirs to remember their experiences and views of Mount Vesuvius were particularly popular.
Hackert (1737-1807), produced various paintings of Vesuvius erupting, including the one being auctioned next week.
Romey Clark, associate fine art specialist with Lyon and Turnbull, said: “Hackert’s depiction is notable for its dramatic immediacy.
“Flames and molten lava burst violently from the crater while thick clouds of smoke billow upward into the night sky.
“By positioning the viewer close to the action, Hackert moves away from the traditional panoramic views of Vesuvius.
“Instead, he offers a more concentrated and immersive vision of the eruption itself.
“This compositional decision allows him to incorporate figures in the foreground, most likely Grand Tour travellers accompanied by local guides who observe the spectacle from the slopes of the volcano.
“We’re excited to see what the painting fetches at auction.”
The painting will go under the hammer on Wednesday May 13 in Lyon & Turnbull’s two-day Five Centuries sale.
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