Hackert Painting of Vesuvius Eruption Sells for £25,400 at Edinburgh Auction
A dramatic painting depicting the 1774 eruption of Mount Vesuvius by German landscape artist Jakob Philipp Hackert has sold for £25,400 at auction in Edinburgh. The artwork was sold by Lyon & Turnbull during their two-day Five Centuries sale, exceeding its pre-auction estimate of £20,000 to £30,000. According to historical accounts by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Hackert witnessed the eruption firsthand and created live sketches that served as references for this immersive composition. Unlike traditional panoramic views, Hackert’s piece places the viewer close to the action, featuring foreground figures likely representing Grand Tour travelers observing the volcanic spectacle. The sale highlights the enduring appeal of Vesuvius imagery among collectors, particularly those interested in artifacts from the era of the Grand Tour, when wealthy Europeans traveled to Italy to visit classical sites. Romey Clark, an associate fine art specialist at Lyon & Turnbull, noted the painting's dramatic immediacy and expressed delight that the historical work found a new home with an international collector. The event underscores the significant market value placed on 18th-century artistic records of natural phenomena.
Editorial responsibility
- No named human review is recorded for this page.
- Reports are grouped by semantic similarity and deterministic rules. Language models may assist titles, summaries, translation and cross-source analysis; the page itself is projected from evidence records.
- Current automated evidence projection