Monday, January 30, 2017

Dozens of Paintings of Rome Geocoded

Painters of many nations have been enchanted by the Eternal City,  and have tried to capture on canvas some of the grandeur, the glory and the significance of the place.  

Over the centuries, different viewpoints have focused on the splendor of the symbols, or on what the lessons that might be learned from contemplating what was lost.

With the exception of Ippolito Caffi, most of the fine art renderings of Rome done after 1800 have been done by non-Italians: first by Dutch; then by French, Scandinavians and Russians, then Americans.

Follow the link to see each view, and compare to Street Views today.



Rome: View of the Piazza di San Giovanni in Laterano
by Bernardo Bellotto

Sunday, January 22, 2017

Hendrik Frans van Lint Paintings in GeocodedArt.com

Hendrik Frans van Lint (1684-1763)  painted many "Italianate" scenes of soft focus, indirect light, fair skies, and lush vegetation.  In less than 20 of his works did he include details of a specific location being represented.  

When in Rome, though, he made faithful representations of some of landmark structures, in something of a "postcard" style.  In these views, any persons in the scene were depicted at a safe enough distance so as to not distract from the objects of interest.


View of Tivoli
by Hendril Frans van Lint

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Jacques Carabain Paintings in GeoCodedArt

Jacques Carabain (1834-1933) painted city views that included interesting street activity, but you would look a long time to find a wide horizon in any of his works.  His interest was in the richness of architectural detail available in every viewpoint; his were usually some out-of-the-way item of interest rather than grand structures or iconic views that all would have been familiar with. 

He painted town scenes in Low Countries, Germany, and northern Italy, and more than a few of his paintings have as their subject the market day activities in towns that are not the subject of fine art by any other view painters.


The Arche Scaligere, Verona
by Jacques Carabain

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

François-Marius Granet Paintings Geocoded

François-Marius Granet (1775-1849) produced a range of indoor and outdoor paintings, and a vast collection of drawings and watercolors.  His subjects were never ornate nor delicate, and the simpler media that he turned to may have served adequately to convey what he wanted to capture.

His interiors are moody, heavy with contemplation of subjects that do not benefit from speculation in the light of day.  The exterior views, mostly in the area of Rome, rarely include the people that were central to interior scenes.  Bright sunshine is a rarity, though they are in central Italy; he seems more interested in the meaning of these places than in their beauty.



Tivoli
by Fracois-Marius Granet

Monday, January 9, 2017

Ten Paintings of Palermo geocoded

The iconic profile of the sea front has been rendered in every shade and in every atmospheric condition.  Is it really the place that is being shown in such different views, or is it the attitude of the artist that is being captured?  With such a history of cultural cross-currents, we should not expect a single response to "What does Palermo look like?"



Palermo



by Aleksey Petrovich Bogolyubov