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The Atlas of Aetna, a monumental work by Prussian Baron Wolfgang Sartorius von Waltershausen (1809–1876), professor of mineralogy and geology at the University of Göttingen, is universally recognized as the first and oldest geological map in the world entirely dedicated to a major active volcano. This work represents an absolute milestone in the history of Earth Sciences, marking the definitive transition from purely naturalistic and artistic descriptions to quantitative and stratigraphic geological cartography. Fascinated by Etna during his travels in Sicily, Sartorius devoted seven years of his life to field surveying the volcano. The Atlas des Aetna consists of nine volumes published between 1845 and 1861, comprising 13 topographical maps and 13 geological maps at a scale of 1:50,000, numerous perspective views, geological and topographical profiles, and a short accompanying text. It is a scientifically and artistically majestic work, unprecedented for Etna, and overall it constitutes the first topographical and geological map of the volcano. Among the geological cartography of active volcanic areas during the 19th century, Sartorius's geological map of Etna played a primary role in this discipline. Indeed, for another important Italian volcano, Vesuvius, which was very active in those years, cartography was limited only to the production of maps of historical lava flows. Sartorius was the first to map the entire volcanic body as a dynamic, ever-evolving geological system, laying the foundation for modern geological cartography of volcanoes.