# Historic paintings of cities



## dnobsemajdnob (Jan 29, 2009)

I came across this painting of New Amsterdam/Manhattan depicting the colony in 1665
and wondered what paintings of other cities from that date and from much earlier look like.

Please post any that you may know.









From The NY Times 6 Apr 09


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## LuckyLuke (Mar 29, 2005)

Here are some from Germany 


*Düsseldorf 1585*





*Berlin 1658*




*
Trier 1545*





*Munich 1650*





*Frankfurt an der Oder 1548*


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## Unsing (Apr 15, 2006)

Kyoto 1565









Tokyo 1630's


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## dnobsemajdnob (Jan 29, 2009)

Those are beautiful images!


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## RawLee (Jul 9, 2007)

Budapest



























(http://buda-pest.freeweb.hu/)


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## tpe (Aug 10, 2005)

CURRIER & IVES, The Great Fire of Chicago, Oct 8th, 1871. Lithograph from an original painting.


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## ReiAyanami (May 14, 2008)

Athens, 1st century A.D.









Athens, Ancient Agora, Classical Age


















Athens, view from Areos Pagos, Roman period









Athens from Piraeus port (probably Roman times)









Acropolis, converted to a fortress, middle ages:









Athens early 19th century










Athens, middle 19th century

















Athens, late 19th century:


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## Slartibartfas (Aug 15, 2006)

Vienna 1548











Vienna seen from the upper Belvedere
1758, painted by Canaletto

Thats 100 years later than the initial painting in this thread but still before any industrial revolution. I included it simply because it might be one of the most beatiful city scapes of Vienna being at least that old.


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## Manolo_B2 (Oct 26, 2007)

Zürich 1576


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## monkeyronin (May 18, 2006)

*Boston*
1841









mid-1700s









1882










*Constantinople (Istanbul)*



















*San Francisco*
1860










*London*
1751










*Luxembourg City*










*Montreal*
1889










*Melbourne*
mid-1900s




























*Venice*
1730










*Vatican City*










*New Amsterdam/New York*









1664









1872










*Paris*










*Toronto*
mid-1800s


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## dtzeigler (Jan 4, 2008)

Great post!


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## sebvill (Apr 13, 2005)

*Lima*

Early 1600, The capital of the Viceroy of Peru


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## dnobsemajdnob (Jan 29, 2009)

That's a beautiful painting. I assume that Lima was not the capital then. If so, what city was?


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## Oaronuviss (Dec 11, 2002)

My city of Windsor in 'The Great Fire of 1849'...
No firemen or equipment to put it out, so Detroit firefighters saved our city.
We returned the favour 118 years later when the Detroit Riots broke out.










There's others, I just can't find them!


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## sebvill (Apr 13, 2005)

dnobsemajdnob said:


> That's a beautiful painting. I assume that Lima was not the capital then. If so, what city was?


In that times Peru was part of the Spanish Empire. The Viceroy of Peru included Colombia, Ecuador, Western Peru, Bolivia (The High Peru), Chile and Argentina. The first capital of this vast land (almost half South America excpet Venezuela and Brazil) was Cuzco, but because it was an Inca city, the Spanish soon move the capital to Jauja, also in the Peruvian highlands, to move it then to Lima in the 17th century as it was closer to the Callao Port. 
Later that century Peru lost the northern territories of Colombia to the Viceroy of New Granade and the territories of Argentina to the Viceroy of the River Plate.


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## oliver999 (Aug 4, 2006)

*kaifeng city*

finished about 900 years ago, north song dynasty. show the daily life of kaifeng city, the capital of north song dynasty(nowadays only a small city in china).
stroll>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>


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## Animo (Oct 6, 2005)

*Manila: Capital of the Spanish East Indies*














































The city of Manila. Oil painting on the inside of a wooden chest, circa 1640-50. Museo de Arte Jose Luis Bello, Puebla. Mexico.










Seat of St. Francis in Manila. Fernando Brambila. Collection of drawings and engravings of the Malaspina Expedition. 1789-1794



















Une rue de Manille. Philippines.
Sabatier, Léon, d. 1887 – Lithographer










View of the bay and the city of Manila. Engraving made by Francisco Javier de Herrera. 1818.


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## Btxr_art (Jun 17, 2007)

Bilbao in 1554









In XVIII


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## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

sebvill said:


> *Lima*
> 
> Early 1600, The capital of the Viceroy of Peru


This is amazing


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## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

Xian - formerly Chang'an, the worlds largest, most cosmopolitan city of its time, and the Eastern counterpart to the Roman Empire.
As the nexus to the Silk Route it had communities of Arabs, Greeks, Persians, Indians and SE Asians:

Its population numbered over a million, and it was based on a grid plan that was later copied into newer capitals such as Kaifeng, Beijing, Seoul, Kyoto and Nara. Some of these streets acted as subdivisions to the city quartiers (aswell as firebreaks and ceremonial ways between the palaces and the city gates), and were up to 700ft wide:











The city had 270 palaces, built in the different styles of the conquered nations of the empire.
The largest was the Ebang Palace, constructed 2,200 years ago, but still the largest ever built and that was 7x larger than the today's record holder, the Forbidden City in Beijing.
It had a throne room 675 m (1/3 of a mile) long:











The Daming palace was another huge residence, its encircling wall 7.6 km in diameter and with 40 pavilions and lesser palaces within in the garden style


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## Saigoneseguy (Mar 6, 2005)

oliver999 said:


> finished about 900 years ago, north song dynasty. show the daily life of kaifeng city, the capital of north song dynasty(nowadays only a small city in china).
> stroll>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>


That's not Kaifeng because you're showing the Ming version of the painting, which depicts a fantasy place that never exists. The Song original is the one featuring Kaifeng.


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## sebvill (Apr 13, 2005)

sebvill said:


> *Lima*
> 
> Early 1600, The capital of the Viceroy of Peru


Same place nowdays


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## ØlandDK (May 29, 2005)

Copenhagen around 1750 - one of the old city gates: 









Copenhagen 1801 - guesst from England in the front fronting the Danish-Norwegian fleet. Copenhagen can be seen in the background:









Copenhagen 1807 - after anothe visit by the British fleet:









Copenhagen during the vinter 1919:


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## brisavoine (Mar 19, 2006)

*Paris in the 1410s*
(images from the _Très riches heures du duc de Berry_, the "king of illuminated manuscripts")

The Île de la Cité as seen from across the Seine River. The Royal Palace (now the Palace of Justice) is clearly visible along with the Sainte Chapelle. The gardens of the palace are now the Place Dauphine.









The Louvre as seen from across the Seine River. The beautiful Medieval Louvre that you can see here was destroyed by King François Ier in the 16th century and replaced by the Renaissance Louvre that you can visit today. Basements of the Medieval Louvre still remain inside the Louvre Museum, notably the walls of the central keep (dungeon) that you can see in the middle of the castle.









The Vincennes Castle, located on the edge of the Bois de Vincennes. The Medieval Vincennes Castle still exists today, but most of the towers were unfortunately demolished by Napoleon in the 1800s and now stand only to the height of the ramparts. The big keep (dungeon) that you can see in the middle of the castle still exists today (Napoleon didn't demolish it). It is the tallest Medieval dungeon in Europe. It was the favorite dwelling of King Charles V in the 14th century. It has now reopened after several years of restoration and is one of the most fascinating monuments to visit in Paris, with almost no tourists around because for some odd reason it is not a not a well-known tourist site despite its exceptional historical character.


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## brisavoine (Mar 19, 2006)

That's the dungeon of the Vincennes Castle today (the moats have no more water, and the other towers were demolished to the height of the rampart):









Back when it was built, it was in the countryside, on the edge of the Bois de Vincennes. Today the Bois de Vincennes still exists, but the
Vincennes Castle has been engulfed by Paris and is now entirely surrounded by urbanization. This is the view from the top of the Vincennes
dungeon today. Back in the 1410s, the view would have been green fields, and the distant spires of Medieval Paris on the horizon. King
Charles V liked to climb on top of the dungeon and admire Paris on the horizon. Today you can still spot the two towers of Notre Dame
just to the right of the Eiffel Tower.

SCROLL>>>>


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## monkeyronin (May 18, 2006)

Toronto, 1883


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## travelworld123 (Sep 24, 2008)

ReiAyanami said:


> Athens, 1st century A.D.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


wow, these athens pictures are really amazing...

i wish athens looks like this today, keeping much of it's ancient, old buildings and flavour.


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## Dimethyltryptamine (Aug 22, 2009)

Sydney - 4 March 1804 (Castle Hill convict rebellion)











The Rocks and Sydney Cove - c. 1807











Looking North over Hyde Park - c. 1828


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## lulek89 (Dec 31, 2008)

Few cities from Poland:

_*Cracow - 1493*_:









_*Wroclaw (Breslau) - 1493*_ :









_*Toruń - 1684 *_ :








_*
Warsaw - 1656 :*_








_All pictures from wikipedia_


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## Spookvlieger (Jul 10, 2009)

^^Very nice!


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## Spookvlieger (Jul 10, 2009)

*Luik/liege around 1400*








http://home.scarlet.be/hetoudelandvanluik/images/raesvanheers/photo1.jpg

*Brussels*









http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/7451/imagebz4.jpg


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## balthazar (Jul 19, 2007)

Dresden, By Bernardo Bellotto ( 18th century)

New Market Sq. Dresden di j_hasara, su Flickr









http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/









http://www.flickr.com/photos/archer10/


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## balthazar (Jul 19, 2007)

London, Northumberland house. By Giovanni Antonio Canal (aka Canaletto)


Northumberland House by Canaletto (1752) by Oliver Chettle from Wikimedia Commons

London

Canaletto london [Public domain], di Giovanni Antonio Canal (Canaletto) (1697–1768)


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## Fallout (Sep 11, 2002)

XVIII c. Warsaw by Bernardo Bellotto:

view from Royal Castle


















Miodowa street







]

Iron Gate Square









view from right bank of Vistula


















Krakowskie Przedmiescie street









Castle Square


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## Clery (Dec 5, 2010)

Paris as seen by impressionist painters...


*Gustave Caillebotte*









Pont de l'Europe (over Saint-Lazare station railyard).



















Boulevard des Italiens (Crédit Lyonnais Headquarters)











*Auguste Renoir*









Pont-Neuf bridge over Ile de la Cité


















Les parapluies (the umbrellas)


*Claude Monet*









Saint-Lazare Station









Boulevard des Capucines









Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois church


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## balthazar (Jul 19, 2007)

Naples in 15th century

Tavola Strozzi - Napoli [Public domain], di ignoto, da Wikimedia Commons


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## woutero (Jan 14, 2008)

Amsterdam 1544 by Cornelis Anthonisz:

Click here for a BIG version. It shows great detail.


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## OtAkAw (Aug 5, 2004)

ReiAyanami said:


> Athens, 1st century A.D.


This is simply incredible. How I wish this was retained up to the modern times.


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## travelworld123 (Sep 24, 2008)

OtAkAw said:


> This is simply incredible. How I wish this was retained up to the modern times.


same... that would be incredible.

imagine visiting greece today and seeing ancient greek sites and buildings just like how you have many egyptian ones today in egypt


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## balthazar (Jul 19, 2007)

Costantinople (mural in the Istanbul archaeology museum)
Constantinople Mural Fourth Crusade [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], by en:User:User:Argos'Dad (en:User:User:Argos'Dad [1]), from Wikimedia Commons


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## 11001001 (Mar 2, 2010)

St Thomas' Hospital, London. 1860









http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/speel/london/westbr.htm


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## captainCanberra (Apr 10, 2009)

Ok so its not as historic as the other ones but here's one of 1955 Melbourne: "Collins Street 5pm" by John brack:








http://www.thekeenans.id.au/images/CollinsSt5pm.jpg
Theres some other really good drawings of 1960s Melbourne somewhere in the ozscrapers section


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## Cal_Escapee (Jul 30, 2010)

> Lurid flames sweep *San Francisco* in William Alexander Coulter’s (1849-1936) panorama of the largest maritime rescue in United States history, where more than thirty-thousand people were taken from the shoreline between Fort Mason and the foot of Lombard Street. Mr. Coulter’s painting depicts the flotilla of rescue vessels ferrying survivors from the burning city to Sausalito.
> 
> Mr. Coulter painted from sketches drawn as he helped during the Dunkirk-like evacuation, and he took certain liberties with the San Francisco skyline to give this magnificent picture balance.
> 
> ...


Source: http://www.sfmuseum.org/1906/coulter.html


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