Prints

Alexander von Humboldt

Portrait by Friedrich Georg Weitsch,* 1806

(Original painting currently held by the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin, Germany)

Artist's impression of the 30 year old Humboldt working in the jungle of Venezuela in 1799. In addition to the plant specimen he is studying and taking notes about, we can see top of a barometer on the lower left, symbolizing Humboldt’s axiom of measuring environmental data while collecting and describing plants.

Alexander von Humboldt and Aimé Bonpland at the foot of the Chimborazo Volcano

Painting by Friedrich Georg Weitsch,* 1810

Artist's impression of Humboldt, Bonpland and some of their Indian companions near the base of the volcano Chimborazo in 1802. Humboldt is showing his large Ramsden sextant to his Indian guide, while Bonpland works on specimens under the canopy. Note the barometer hanging on the tree next to Bonpland

Humboldt’s South American Expedition, 1799–1804

Map by Alexander Karnstedt, Wikipedia Commons

This map shows both the legs of the journey followed by Humboldt and Bonpland on their great expedition and the dates of their stays at various cities and locations.

* According to Wikipedia (downloaded 10 August 2013) "Friedrich Georg Weitsch (8 August 1758, Braunschweig – 30 May 1828, Berlin) was a German painter and etcher. Weitsch began his artistic training with his father, "Pascha" Johann Friedrich Weitsch (1723–1803). He attended the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. After traveling to Amsterdam and Italy between 1784 and 1787, he returned home and became court painter to Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick. In 1794 he became a member of the Berlin Academy of Art and became its director in 1798 (succeeding Bernhard Rode). He married in 1794 and did not have children.

His work included landscapes, history and religious painting, and portraits of royal and civil authorities—the latter showing the influence of Anton Graff. Some are held at the Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum, the Städtisches Museum, and the Braunschweigisches Landesmuseum, all in Braunschweig."