Gezicht op de Etna gezien vanuit het zuidwesten 1778

Willem Carel Dierkens rendered this view of Mount Etna in muted watercolours sometime before 1778. The eye is immediately drawn to the stark contrast between the volcano's somber, earthy tones and the billowing white smoke. The composition divides the landscape into distinct zones; the volcanic peak dominates, yet the methodical arrangement of letters across the slopes introduces an element of structural order. This hints at the influence of cartography on landscape art. The surface is activated through delicate washes and precise linework to capture the geological textures, yet also to impose a system of signs. By combining the aesthetic appreciation of the natural sublime with a scientific impulse to classify and understand, Dierkens bridges art and epistemology. His Etna is not just a spectacle, but an object of study, reflecting the Enlightenment's ambition to dissect and categorize the world.