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THE IRON MINES OF ELBA AND MINERAL COLLECTING IN THE LATE 1700’S

This aquatint, “View of the Entrance to the Iron Mines of Elba,” is a visual component of Sir Richard Colt Hoare’s 1814 travelogue, ‘A tour through the island of Elba’. Serving to illustrate Hoare’s written accounts from his journey in the late 1790s, the image captures the dramatic landscape of the Rio mines. The painting, while not a direct depiction of the Terranera mine, is a window into the historical and strategic importance of Elba’s Iron mines, which have long been a focal point of power and industry.

The artist masterfully blends picturesque elements, such as the rustic cottage and small figures, with the sublime and overwhelming scale of the quarried mountainsides. For the book’s early 19th century audience, this illustration provided a vital visual record, transforming textual descriptions of Elba’s famous mineral wealth into a tangible, romanticised scene. It effectively communicates both the industrial importance of the site and its rugged, untamed beauty, making the remote island accessible to the armchair traveller of the era. The image acts as a visual testament to the descriptions within the book’s pages.

In the late 1790s, the Iron mines on Elba were ancient operations already famous throughout Europe. They weren’t deep-shaft mines as we might imagine today, but vast, open-cast quarries that had been worked since Etruscan times. The methods were laborious and manual, relying on sheer human and animal effort rather than advanced machinery. This era, on the cusp of the Napoleonic Wars, saw the mines as a crucial strategic asset, coveted for their high-quality Iron ore essential for producing weapons and munitions.

By the late 1790s, Elba’s Iron was a prize possession. The island was nominally under the control of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, but its strategic importance made it a focal point of international rivalry, especially with the rise of Revolutionary France.


The French saw control of Elba’s Iron as a way to fuel their military machine and deny a critical resource to their enemies, like the British. The high Iron content of Elba’s ore made it exceptionally valuable for cannon and firearm production. This geopolitical tension would culminate in the French occupation of the island in the early 1800’s, a prelude to Napoleon’s eventual exile there in 1814 — the same year Sir Richard Colt Hoare published his book. The tranquil, picturesque scene in the painting belies the immense strategic value of the very ground being depicted.

ABSENCE OF FINE MINERAL SPECIMENS IN THE 18TH CENTURY

The lament for the legendary Iron minerals of Elba is a timeless one. While modern collectors might sigh, believing the golden age of discovery is firmly in the past, they are merely echoing a sentiment that has reverberated for centuries. The feeling of having arrived just a little too late to witness the island’s true mineralogical glory was already a common theme by the 1790s.

This enduring sense of scarcity was perfectly captured by the English antiquarian and traveller Sir Richard Colt Hoare. In his 1814 publication reflecting on his journeys, he noted that the hunt for Elba’s finest treasures was already a frustrating endeavor for the collectors of his day. He observed: “Samples of this ore have been eagerly sought for by all collectors of natural history; but those beautiful specimens which were found some years ago, are no longer to be procured but with the utmost difficulty.” It seems the quest for Elba’s elusive, perfect specimens has always been defined by the bittersweet belief that the most beautiful have already been found. (Author: silvia)