Maps of Solar Eclipses from 1840 to 1844

On July 8, 1842, a total solar eclipse was widely observed in Europe, crossing Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Austria, Slovenia, Slovakia, Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia. The eclipse also swept through Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and China.

This remarkable painting Eclissi di sole a Venezia, by Ippolito Caffi depicts the painter’s impression of the onset of totality from his location in Venice. It’s a striking vision demarcating the disappearing sunlit vista to the sudden darkness of totality. It’s a suggestive portrayal but not quite accurate: the split in the sky is not so stark and the shadow should cover half, not three-quarters of the sky. Still, this scene depicts the shockingly quick changes in the sky once the Moon’s shadow reaches an observer.