Eugen von Ransonnet-Villez Between Japan and the Adriatic

Abstract

Baron Ransonnet (1838-1926) was an intriguing figure of many interests – a painter, diplomat, and globetrotter who travelled across the Near and Far East, from Palestine and Egypt to India, Ceylon, and Japan. He was among the first to document the underwater world both technically and artistically. His detailed observations on underwater light and colour form the core of his visual aesthetics: the general underwater colour effect differs significantly from that of terrestrial landscapes. He invented and constructed a diving bell, followed by a simpler optical device – a kind of underwater telescope or periscope – with which he observed the sea floor and produced realistic sketches of Adriatic flora and fauna. In 1884, Ransonnet discovered the Blue Cave on the island of Biševo. In his article on the discovery, he wrote that his primary interest was photographing the underwater world with a camera he had constructed himself – which opens the possibility that the oldest underwater photographs were taken precisely there, nine years before the well-known images by Boutan. Ransonnet came to the island of Vis as an illustrator for the Kronprinzenwerk publishing project (Die österreichisch-ungarische Monarchie in Wort und Bild). Ransonnet’s legacy lives on through his preserved sketches, lithographs, and paintings kept in museums in Vienna and Monaco. They testify to a unique amalgam of scientific insight and aesthetic sensitivity, which makes his work interesting to the histories of both art and science.