[Balloon above crater of Mount Etna. Sicily, ca. 1800] – Antique Print
![[Balloon above crater of Mount Etna. Sicily, ca. 1800], [no date recorded on caption card] — historic print](https://images.jameslantos.com/img/5e/5e20d7345fcc-L.webp)
(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)
Description
This rare historic print captures [Balloon above crater of Mount Etna. Sicily, ca. 1800] in remarkable detail. It comes from the collections of the Library of Congress, scanned from the original and carefully restored.
The framed print arrives ready to hang; the unframed option suits custom framing. A conversation-starting piece for home, office, or as a meaningful gift. Free shipping in the lower 48 states. Since 2001, Snapshots of the Past has shipped historic prints to tens of thousands of customers around the world.
[Balloon above crater of Mount Etna. Sicily, ca. 1800]
Order a print
Thank you. Your order went through, and a receipt is on its way by email.
Secure checkout · SSL encryptedPowered by Stripe and PayPal
Free shipping in the lower 48 states. The checkout page shows the picture, size and price before you pay.
Few subjects pair a volcano and an aerial voyage as vividly as this watercolor, which shows a balloon hovering over the crater of Mount Etna in Sicily. The caption card dates it only to about 1800 and names no artist or flight, so the scene reads as a period imagining rather than a documented ascent. That date falls within a few decades of the first crewed balloon flights in France in 1783, when aerial travel was still new enough to inspire scenes like this. Etna, one of Europe's most active volcanoes, gave artists a dramatic backdrop that set human daring against raw natural power.
| Created / published | [no date recorded on caption card] |
|---|---|
| Medium | 1 print : watercolor. |
| Subjects | Landauer Collection (Library of Congress). This record contains unverified, old data from caption card. Caption card tracings: Italy--Sicily; Volcanoes; Italy--Mt. Etna; Balloons; Geogr.; Shelf. |
| Source | Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division |
| Original scan | 1,536 × 1,081 px · prints to 5 × 4 in at 300 dpi |
| Reference | AMZ-SOTP-HPA-140022 |
More from the Ballooning collection
Snapshots of the Past helps heritage brands, museums, historians and storytellers tell stories with history: historic prints, image licensing and historical storytelling drawn from more than 25 years of research and curation.
![[1st human balloon ascension; balloon with Pilatre de Rozier and Marquis d'Arlandes above Paris. Nov. 1783]](https://images.jameslantos.com/img/a2/a2d9304a9fec-400.webp)
![[Captive balloon of Henri Giffard over Paris, 1878; low above Saint Roch church]](https://images.jameslantos.com/img/64/64ac335962fa-400.webp)
![[Captive balloon with clock face and bell, floating above the Eiffel Tower, Paris, France] / Camille Grávis.](https://images.jameslantos.com/img/18/1882de3353fa-400.webp)
