Ibiza: an island past and present

Created by the content designer Lluc Julià Fàbregues, this fascinating project contrasts the present day Balearics with the places illustrated in the work of  Die Balearen in Wort und Bild Geschildert (The Balearics Described by Word and Images) by the Archduke Ludwig Salvator of Austria. The aim is to compare the state of conservation of the cultural heritage and the evolution of the landscape of the Balearic Islands between the end of the 19th century and the 21st century.

The Archduke Ludwig Salvator of Austria (1847-1915) was third son of the Grand Duke Leopold II of Tuscany and María Antonia de Borbón, born in Palazzo Pitti in Florence on August 5, 1847. Fleeing his home at 12 due to the fall of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany – an act which culminated in the unity of Italy and the end of Austrian domination - the Archduke arrived in the Balearic Islands in 1867. In love with Mallorca – in particular the northern coast - he lived on the island for most of the rest of his life. He faithfully portrayed the Balearic Islands in his magnum opus Die Balearen in Wort und Bild Geschildert, structured in nine volumes: six dedicated to Mallorca, two to Menorca and one to the Pitiusas. The author devoted much of his life to the elaboration of this monumental work, which collects detailed information about the Balearic Islands in fields as diverse as anthropology, geography, art, ethnology, folklore, natural sciences, and literature. All the information is illustrated with prints made from notes by the Archduke himself, or from photographs, in order to faithfully reproduce the reality of the Balearic Islands in the late 19th century. This gives them a documentary value that goes beyond the pictorial value. In this sense, the illustrations constitute a graphic material with enough accuracy to draw objective conclusions about the reality of the Balearic archipelago at the end of the 19th century.

Photography by Lluc Julià