The term Landscape actually came from the Dutch word landschap. Which meant “region, tract of land” however the definition started to change in the 1500’s to “a picture depicting scenery on land”
16th Century
In the 16th century landscape started being recognised as a genre. There was a growing interest in natural world due to the Renaissance. During this time, Albrecht Altdorfer was one of the more prominent artists. He was said to be one of the first Europeans to produce pure landscape art. He took a lot of inspiration/included a lot of religious aspects which was a key aspect of Renaissance art. However, although Landscape was starting to be recognised as it’s own genre, t was still not a “popular” style of art.
Renaissance art
Renaissance art took a lot of inspiration from biblical texts or religious stories. Most of the art includes one of the following some of the classic styles (especially the human form); naturalism styles and individualism which was gaining popularity at the time. However a key part of renaissance art is they would focus on idealisation and perfection whereas romanticism which is similar was the one to mainly focus on self expression and emotion.
Some of the most famous and successful renaissance artists Donatello, Raphael, Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci.
17th Century
Nicolas Poussin was also quite a popular landscape artist he mainly started during the 17th century where it was still very slowly rising in popularity. He was most known for his incredible paintings where he would take inspiration from Roman countryside. He is known for elevating the whole genre of landscapes.
Classical landscapes were gaining a lot of attention around this time. Classical landscapes aim to capture and illustrate the idea of recalling Arcadia. Which is this legendary place in ancient Greece which is known for its beauty.
Its said classical landscapes were heavily influenced by classical antiquity which focused on Greek culture from around 8th century BCE to the 5th century CE.
In classical landscapes during the 17th century they would have these idyllic aspects to them so they wold appear to be very tranquil, happy and blissful this cold be due to the fact arcadia is a mythical place so people would usually describe in this idealized way.
Add more here about the rise of Classical Landscape art in the 17th Century. There is a link here with more info: LINK
Add more about 18th / 19th Century Art…
Landscape Photography
Landscape photography didn’t actually start/gain popularity until 1826 and 1827 where Nicéphore Niepce took some of what’s now considered ” oldest surviving photograph of a real-world scene” the most famous and the oldest being “View from the Window at Le Gras”. He was able to get these photos because he was actually an incredible inventor and pioneer so he was able to develop heliography so that when he went exploring he was able to capture the world. He was famous for being the first person to make a permanent photographic image.
