# Cityscape > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Cityscape > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Cityscape.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cityscape > Source revision: 1308297555 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Artistic representation of the physical aspects of a city or urban area}} {{Other uses}} {{more citations needed|date=April 2018}} [[File:The Dam in Amsterdam, by Gerrit Adriaensz Berckheyde.jpg|thumb|right|Painting of the [Dam Square](/source/Dam_Square) in Amsterdam, by [Gerrit Adriaensz Berckheyde](/source/Gerrit_Adriaensz_Berckheyde), {{Circa|1660}}]] [[File:Dresden photochrom2.jpg|thumb|right|Photograph of [Dresden](/source/Dresden), Germany, in the 1890s]] In the [visual arts](/source/visual_arts), a '''cityscape''' (urban landscape) is an artistic representation, such as a [painting](/source/painting), [drawing](/source/drawing), [print](/source/Publishing) or [photograph](/source/photograph), of the physical aspects of a [city](/source/city) or [urban area](/source/urban_area). It is the urban equivalent of a [landscape](/source/landscape). ''Townscape'' is roughly synonymous with ''cityscape,'' though it implies the same difference in urban size and density (and even modernity) implicit in the difference between the words ''city'' and ''town''. In [urban design](/source/urban_design) the terms refer to the configuration of built forms and interstitial space. ==History of cityscapes in art== From the first century A.D. dates a [fresco](/source/fresco) at the [Baths of Trajan](/source/Baths_of_Trajan) in [Rome](/source/Rome) depicting a bird's eye view of an ancient city.Eugenio la Rocca: "The Newly Discovered City Fresco from Trajan's Baths, Rome." ''Imago Mundi'' Vol. 53 (2001), pp. 121–124. In the Middle Ages, cityscapes appeared as a background for [portrait](/source/portrait)s and [biblical](/source/Bible) themes. From the 16th up to the 18th century numerous [copperplate](/source/intaglio_printing) prints and [etching](/source/etching)s were made showing cities in [bird's eye view](/source/aerial_landscape_art). The function of these prints was to provide a map-like overview. In Ancient China, scroll paintings such as [''Along the River During the Qingming Festival'' (''Qingming Shanghe Tu'')](/source/Along_the_River_During_the_Qingming_Festival) offer a panoramic view of the cities depicted. Halfway through the 17th century the cityscape became an independent genre in the [Netherlands](/source/Netherlands). In his famous [''View of Delft''](/source/View_of_Delft_(Vermeer)) in 1660–1661 [Jan Vermeer](/source/Jan_Vermeer) painted a quite accurate portrait of the city [Delft](/source/Delft). Cities like [Amsterdam](/source/Amsterdam), [Haarlem](/source/Haarlem) and [The Hague](/source/The_Hague) also became popular subjects for paintings. Painters from other European countries (i.e., [Great Britain](/source/Great_Britain), [France](/source/France), [Germany](/source/Germany)) followed the Dutch example. The 18th century was a flourishing period for cityscape painting in [Venice](/source/Venice) ([Canaletto](/source/Canaletto), [Guardi](/source/Francesco_Guardi)). [[File:Monet Houses of Parliament, Sunset.jpg|thumb|right|''Houses of Parliament, Sunset'', 1902, by [Claude Monet](/source/Claude_Monet)]] At the end of the 19th century the [impressionists](/source/impressionists) focused on the atmosphere and dynamics of [everyday life](/source/everyday_life) in the city. Suburban and industrial areas, building sites and [railway yards](/source/Rail_yard) also became subjects for cityscapes. During the 20th century attention became focused on [abstract](/source/abstract_art) and [conceptual art](/source/conceptual_art), and thus the production of cityscapes declined. American painter [Edward Hopper](/source/Edward_Hopper), who stayed loyal to figurative painting, created intriguing images of the American scene. With a revival of figurative art at the end of the 20th century comes a revaluation of the cityscape. Well-known living cityscape painters are [Rackstraw Downes](/source/Rackstraw_Downes), [Antonio López García](/source/Antonio_L%C3%B3pez_Garc%C3%ADa), and [Richard Estes](/source/Richard_Estes). American artist [Yvonne Jacquette](/source/Yvonne_Jacquette) has made a specialty of [aerial](/source/aerial_landscape_art) cityscapes. ==Selected cityscape painters== [[File:Going to Work, Lowry.png|thumb|''[Going to Work](/source/Going_to_Work)'' by [L. S. Lowry](/source/L._S._Lowry)]] * [Alexander Beggrov](/source/Alexander_Beggrov) * [Bernardo Bellotto](/source/Bernardo_Bellotto) * [Johann Berthelsen](/source/Johann_Berthelsen) * [George Hendrik Breitner](/source/George_Hendrik_Breitner) * [Gustave Caillebotte](/source/Gustave_Caillebotte) * [Canaletto](/source/Canaletto) * [Edouard Leon Cortés](/source/Edouard_Leon_Cort%C3%A9s) * [John Atkinson Grimshaw](/source/John_Atkinson_Grimshaw) * [Francesco Guardi](/source/Francesco_Guardi) * [Childe Hassam](/source/Childe_Hassam) * [Jan van der Heyden](/source/Jan_van_der_Heyden) * [Edward Hopper](/source/Edward_Hopper) * [Isaac Israëls](/source/Isaac_Isra%C3%ABls) * [L. S. Lowry](/source/L._S._Lowry) * [Matthäus Merian](/source/Matth%C3%A4us_Merian) * [Georgia O'Keeffe](/source/New_York_skyscrapers_(O'Keeffe)) * [Camille Pissarro](/source/Camille_Pissarro) * [Jacob Lawrence](/source/Jacob_Lawrence) * [Paul Signac](/source/Paul_Signac) * [Alfred Sisley](/source/Alfred_Sisley) * [Pyotr Vereshchagin](/source/Pyotr_Vereshchagin) * [Jan Vermeer](/source/Jan_Vermeer) * [Brian Whelan](/source/Brian_Whelan) * [James McNeill Whistler](/source/James_McNeill_Whistler) * [Guy C. Wiggins](/source/Guy_C._Wiggins) * [Stephen Wiltshire](/source/Stephen_Wiltshire) {{clear}} == Selected cityscape photographers == * [Berenice Abbott](/source/Berenice_Abbott) * [Eugène Atget](/source/Eug%C3%A8ne_Atget) * [Henri Cartier-Bresson](/source/Henri_Cartier-Bresson) * [André Kertész](/source/Andr%C3%A9_Kert%C3%A9sz) * [Andrew Prokos](/source/Andrew_Prokos) * [Edward Steichen](/source/Edward_Steichen) ==See also== *[Gordon Cullen](/source/Gordon_Cullen) *[Landscape painting](/source/Landscape_painting) *[List of cities with most skyscrapers](/source/List_of_cities_with_most_skyscrapers) *[Skyline](/source/Skyline) *[Skyscraper](/source/Skyscraper) *[Veduta](/source/Veduta) ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== {{Commons}} *[https://www.arthistory.net/cityscape/ Cityscape] – ArtHistory.net {{Authority control}} Category:Cityscapes Cityscape * Category:Landscape * --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Cityscape](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cityscape) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cityscape?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.