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.

Paintings of Rome Geocoded

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

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.

Francois-Marius Granet in geocodedArt.com

Tivoli
by Fracois-Marius Granet

Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg Paintings in GeoCodedArt

Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg (1783-1853) painted architecturally specific views of sites in Rome just as he saw them, and included just as much detail on the people moving past his locations, whatever their state of decay.  Most of his works have a crystal clear light more common to his native Denmark, rather than the golden glow that is associated with Rome.
For an artist whose renderings of buildings had the precision of a draftsman, he did as many fine works capturing human forms in a wide range of natural states;  most are not in formal poses though portraits are also part of his varied catalog.  In later years, and on return to northern climates, he did a number of marine works, again faithfully detailing the features of large ships that were essential to their good function.

Eckersberg paintings Geocoded

The Stairs to the Santa Maria in Aracoeli in Rome
by Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg

Franz Ludwig Catel Paintings in Geocoded Art

Franz Ludwig Catel (1778–1856) painted scenes in Rome and southern Italy that have a sentimental fondness for a land warmed by the sun, where life is lived at a pace that is not likely to wear one out.  His views are overwhelmingly in brown and yellow tones, as if every site he visited is stuck on yellowing pages of past glory.  The way of life is a prominent feature in these works, not just natural beauty, nor the imposing architecture. They contribute to what makes a scene worth memorializing, but the way one spends their time while there, and the way it feels to be under the warm Italian sun, make for a more charming reflection.

Franz Catel paintings geocoded

View of Amalfi from the Gulf of Salerno
by Franz Ludwig Catel 

https://goo.gl/ko7GlP

Thomas Jones Paintings Geocoded

Thomas Jones (1743-1803) painted dramatic nature scenes in his native Wales before rendering a series of works in the south of Italy.  There his choice of subjects might be characterized as views that are  "off the beaten track".  Each of his works around Naples is named with detail as to its location, but the views are unexpected ones, with buildings partially obscured, lacking the majestic profiles of the famous landmarks. They have a freshness, though, that permits the viewer to get a strong sense of being there, and getting the feeling that travelers often experience: looking more at the side of a building than one might like, and wondering if a better view might be possible.

Thomas Jones Paintings in Geocoded Art

Buildings in Naples with the North-East side of the Castle Nuovoby Thomas Jones

Haarlem Paintings in Geocoded Art

Haarlem Paintings in Geocoded Art

The Market Place and the Grote Kerk at Haarlem, painting by Gerrit Adriaensz Berckheyde (1638-1698).   Most of the Dutch townscape painters have tried their hand at capturing Haarlem, the bustling commercial hub of the Golden Age.
  This page collects 20 views by 12 different artists and allows comparison to current street views of each of these sites.

Haarlem paintings geocoded

Paul Cornoyer Paintings in GeocodedArt

Late Afternoon, Washington Square

Painting by Paul Cornoyer (1864-1923). Cornoyer works are frequently framed with veiny, willowy trees, and the trees are most often bare; he painted more winter scenes in New York than any other painter.
  In this view there is foliage that is drinking in the early season warmth, and is appears to be getting transferred into the street life below.

Paul Cornoyer paintings geocoded

Utrecht Paintings Geocoded

Utrecht Paintings Geocoded to the Scene Shown

The Nicolaikerk, Utrecht, by Jan Hendrik Verheyen (1778-1846).  Get oriented to this Dutch city which is less famous, but one with architectural treasures that have inspired a generations of painters.  Eleven fine art scenes in a compact space.

Utrecht Paintings geocoded

Dordrecht Paintings Geocoded

Dordrecht Paintings

A view Of The Kleine Haven in Dordrecht, by Fredericus J van R Chattel (1856-1917), one of the 16 views of this iconic structure done by old masters and more contemporary artists, each with an appreciation for seeing the transcendent right before their eyes.

Dordrecht paintings geocoded

Francis Silva paintings in GeocodedArt

Kingston Point, Hudson River

Painting by Francis A. Silva (1835-1886).  Virtually all of Silva's paintings are focused on water; scenes of calm rivers greatly outnumber the seascapes,  and few of those have any measure of wave action.

He often painted boats with their sails full of wind, and seemingly full of promise. The ideal situation on the water appears to be a different world from the gritty bank where the observer stands, and to which the painter devoted a great deal of attention.

Silva paintings geocoded

Gerrit Berckheyde Paintings in GeoCodedArt

View of Amsterdam

Painting by Gerrit Adriaensz Berckheyde (1638-1698). A prolific painter of townscapes of Amsterdam and The Hague. He often painted the same buildings or neighborhoods from slightly different vantage points, but did very few interiors or imaginary scenes.  Compared to his contemporaries, he did not put much effort into realistic clouds, but frequently left facades of buildings in shadow, heightening the realism of the view.

Berckheyde paintings geocoded

Johannes Christiaan Karel Klinkenberg Paintings in GeocodedArt

The Port of Enkhuizen

painting by Johannes Klinkenberg.  Great billowing clouds lend a distinctive Dutch air to all his outdoor works.  Touches of modern city life creep into works that still have some Golden Age romance in them, in buildings which strain to reach the light that animates all.

Klinkenberg paintings geocoded

Hendrik Keun Paintings in GeocodedArt

View on the Houtmarkt in Amsterdam

Painting by Hendrik Keun (1738-1788).  Very clear, unemotional pictures of a busy city, with views chosen to emphasize the role of waterways as the life blood of the prosperous, but not ornate, life.

Keun paintings geocoded

Jan Weissenbruch Paintings in GeocodedArt

View of the Wall Houses at the Thieves Tower in Amersfoort

Painting by Jan Weissenbruch (1822-1880).  The crisp architectural style is quite distinct from that of his cousin's looser landscape work.  He did not pick the most imposing civic structures as his subjects, though they all include recognizable features.  His viewpoints are always such that a feeling for average street life is appreciated.

Jan Weissenbruch geocoded

George Hendrik Breitner Paintings in GeocodedArt

The Toren of Gorkum

Painting by George Hendrik Breitner (1857-1923).  Breitner stuck with a dark, muted palette; his cityscapes particularly looked like days when the pedestrians would be happy to get home and be out of the weather.  His many interiors and figure studies carried the same atmosphere inside.

George Breitner paintings geocoded

Johan Weissenbruch Paintings in GeocodedArt

View of Haarlem from the Dunes

Painting by Johan Hendrik Weissenbruch (1824-1903).  This artist painted a variety of scenes: interior and exterior, city and country, and did some portraits as well.  The outdoor scenes were more likely not to be titled with a specific location, and those that are named tend not to be the recognizable landmarks painted by so many others in the Low Countries.  In the variety of settings and subjects he painted, they might all be described as "moody". 

Johan Weissenbruch paintings geocoded

Cornelis Vreedenburgh Paintings in GeocodedArt

The Montelbaanstoren, Amsterdam

Painting by Cornelis Vreedenburgh (1880-1946) 

His work is uniformly sunny, and evidently optimistic, infused with all that makes Dutch life such a pleasure.  There is a general haziness in place of sharp edges anywhere; the view always appears to be from the perspective of one whose eyes are half-closed in relaxed pleasure, enjoying the scene.

Vreedenburgh paintings geocoded

Oene Romkes de Jongh Paintings in GeocodedArt

A view of Amsterdam

Painting by Oene Romkes de Jongh (1812-1896). A prolific painter of town scenes in Amsterdam, most often without the specific location included in the title of the work.  His many works are curiously monochromatic: brownish buildings against a drab sky.  Somehow they did not possess the charm and vitality for him that they did for the great originators of the Dutch tradition of painting cityscapes.

Oene Romkes de Jongh geocoded

Pieter Gerard Vertin paintings in Geocoded Art

View of the Marekerk, Leiden

Painting by Pieter Gerard Vertin (1819-1893).  This artist produced many works that highlighted the typical architecture of Dutch cities and towns, usually in a style did not add much drama to the scene.  They were not images that you would remark that they captured a particularly beautiful day, and he did more wintry and snowy scenes than most vedute painters.

Vertin paintings geocoded

Salomon van Ruysdael paintings Geocoded

A Ferry Boat near Arnheim

Painting by Salomon van Ruysdael (1629-1681). One of a distinguished family of painters, his prolific work is almost exclusively landscapes, most featuring the great billowing clouds that sweep across the dead flat Low Countries.  A minority of the titles of the works identify the location specifically, and in the image any landmark is to be found in a distant steeple which acts as something of a pin market on the land.  The exception to this painting of "general river scene" is the great works of the unmistakable Valkhof at Nijmegen.

van Ruysdael paintings geocoded