Der Vesuvausbruch von 1631, ein Spektakel auf der Weltbühne Europa

Anmerkungen zu Joachim von Sandrarts Beitrag zum Theatrum Europaeum von Matthäus Merian

Abstract

Those passages of Matthaeus Merian‘s Theatrum Europaeum in which he conciously separates the sections of entertainment from those of pure historical information reveal most clearly his intentions. With the publication of his historical work treating a whole century from 1618 to 1718 he wished to present historical knowledge as well as current events of his own present to a broad audience in a clearly arranged and truthful way. The paper analyzes the combination of text and illustration in one of the first volumes namely the one that covers the years from 1629 to 1633: In a passage dealing with the eruption of the Vesuvius of 1631, an incident that was noticed all over Europe, a dramatic eye-witness account is combined with a copperplate by Joachim von Sandrart which minimizes the catastrophe. It can be shown that text and illustration did not follow a concept of unity, but were independent from each other thus serving different interests of the readers. The even-handed panoramic angle of view which characterizes the concept of the whole Theatrum Europaeum is a result of a cosmopolitan ideology which Merian developed under the influence of the neostoicist writings of Justus Lipsius. Merian and also the artist Joachim von Sandrart were followers of this philosophy of life.