Solar eclipse observers. Women, men and children observing the 1870 solar eclipse in a London street during the Victorian era. Total solar eclipses usually occur less than once a year, and can only be seen from a small area of the Earth's surface. This eclipse took place on 22 December 1870, and totality was visible in an arc stretching from southern Portugal and Spain, across southern Europe, to the Ukraine. In London, only a partial solar eclipse was seen. This artwork, by the English illustrator Fred Barnard (1846-1896), was titled 'The Eclipse of the Sun - a Street Scene'. It appeared in the 31 December 1870 issue of The Illustrated London News.