01 Work, The art of War, József Molnár's The Destruction of Pompeii, with Footnotes

József Molnár, Zsámbok, 1821 – Budapest, 1899

The Destruction of Pompeii, c. 1876

Oil, canvas

279 × 409 cm

Hungarian National Gallery

Of the many eruptions of Mount Vesuvius, a major stratovolcano in southern Italy, the best-known for its eruption in 79 AD, which was one of the deadliest.

In autumn of 79 AD, Mount Vesuvius violently spewed forth a cloud of super-heated tephra and gases to a height of 33 km (21 mi), ejecting molten rock, pulverized pumice and hot ash at 1.5 million tons per second, ultimately releasing 100,000 times the thermal energy of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The event gives its name to the Vesuvian type of volcanic eruption, characterised by columns of hot gases and ash reaching the stratosphere, although the event also included pyroclastic flows associated with Pelean eruptions. 

The event destroyed several Roman towns and settlements in the area. Pompeii and Herculaneum, obliterated and buried underneath massive pyroclastic surges and ashfall deposits, are the most famous examples. Archaeological excavations have revealed much of the towns and the lives of the inhabitants leading to the area becoming the Vesuvius National Park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. More on The Destruction of Pompeii

József Molnár (21 March 1821 - 6 March 1899) was a Hungarian painter. Molnár was born in Zsámbék and studied in Venice, Rome and Munich. After his studies, he settled down in Stuttgart, where he earned money by painting portraits. He returned to Hungary in 1853 and started painting landscapes and historic paintings in Pest. More on József Molnár

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