Johann Caspar Pflauntz, Erdbeben zu Lissabon, 1755

This coloured woodcut by the artist Johann Caspar Pflauntz of Augsburg represents a moment immediately after the Lisbon earthquake of 1855. The city is seen from the sea, which is in turmoil. In the city itself, fires have broken out, and buildings have collapsed like houses of cards. Pflauntz gives a dramatic depiction of events in Portugal which deeply impressed his contemporaries. The illustration is still much reproduced today whenever catastrophes are invoked in the media.

Johann Caspar Pflauntz: Erdbeben zu Lissabon, pamphlet, Augsburg, 1. November 1755; source: akg-images, Bildnummer AKG119118.