Fori Vulcani: The Phlegraean Fields

This black-and-white etching illustrates a panoramic view of a volcanic region dotted with multiple active vents emitting clouds of smoke. In the upper left, a fortified town with church towers sits near a coastline where a small sailing vessel is visible on the water. The foreground and mid-ground are defined by rugged, hilly terrain and clusters of bubbling, smoky pits. To the lower right, an ornate, scrolled cartouche contains the Latin title of the plate.

This image is a plate from Athanasius Kircher's 'Mundus Subterraneus' (1664), a seminal work in the history of volcanology and geology that attempted to map the Earth's interior as a series of interconnected fires and channels. It reflects the early modern synthesis of empirical observation and Aristotelian natural philosophy regarding subterranean heat and tectonic activity.