The Eruption of Mt. Vesuvius Mid-Unit 4 Post

Photo by Sigmund

In The Eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, most of the painting is taken up by Mount Vesuvius itself. This volcano is important in this painting because it was this volcano that destroyed the city of Pompeii, the city in the painting. Most of the painting itself consists of oranges and grays or blacks, but the only place the orange is really shown is on Vesuvius. This draws the most attention to the mountain itself. The artist made the mountain very large, in comparison to the rest of the painting, in order to draw more attention to it. This image relates to the painting, as it is an image of the monstrosity that is, Mt. Vesuvius.

Photo by William Chevillon

This painting, painted by Pierre-Jacques Volaire, is The Eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. Volaire was the son of the official town painter in Toulon, France. It can be said that it was in his genes to be a painter. Volaire’s work centralizes around landscapes, and he has done several pieces on Mount Vesuvius. The life of Volaire is not really quite detailed, as there is not much documented about his life. He was not the most famous painter and his works were not the grandest works one could see. Despite the unpopularity of his works, as you can see in this image, what he did was pretty impressive.

Photo by cliff hellis

In many of his paintings, Volaire would paint landscapes. Landscape paintings can be dated back to ancient times, and after the fall of the Roman empire, they seemed to die off. They were viewed as religious or figural pieces, and it was not until the 17th century that they began to regain popularity. This image in particular is a view from the mountain Vesuvius. Landscapes can be breathtaking pieces, such as The Eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. The different colors combined with the layering of the people, city, water, and mountain, create a stunning work of art that seems to extend for miles within it. 

Photo by cliff hellis

Pompeii was the ancient city destroyed by Mount Vesuvius. In this image, a small portion of modern day Pompeii is shown. We have learned much of what we know about ancient Roman times from what we have uncovered from Pompeii. Since the city was burned and covered with volcanic ash in such a brief and quick instant, much of what Pompeii held has been preserved. This allowed archaeologists to learn so much about what life was like so many years ago. The painting depicts Pompeii in the middle of the painting, and due to its close proximity to Vesuvius, Pompeii really did not have much of a chance after an eruption of that magnitude.

Photo by Forest Service

The last picture is a picture of Mount St. Helens in Washington state erupting in 1980. Although less catastrophic than Vesuvius, the eruption of Mount St. Helens still shows the magnitude of volcanic eruptions and the dangers that come with them. This image is relates to the painting because volcanic eruptions are not just an everyday occurrence. They are devastating events that have been and will continue to be studied by scientists as to find out more on why and when. The people of Pompeii serve as great examples as to why volcanoes are not just mountains that make smoke every so often.