Topographical art and historical geography: amateur English representations of Ligurian landscape in the early nineteenth century

This paper assesses the value of amateur topographical art for historical geographers and landscape historians. It examines the work of two amateur artists, Elizabeth Fanshawe and William Strangways, made in Liguria, northwest Italy, to assess the value of topographical art for understandi...

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Main Authors: Piana, Pietro, Watkins, Charles, Balzaretti, Ross
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Centro Italiano per gli Studi Storico-Geografici 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51201/
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author Piana, Pietro
Watkins, Charles
Balzaretti, Ross
author_facet Piana, Pietro
Watkins, Charles
Balzaretti, Ross
author_sort Piana, Pietro
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description This paper assesses the value of amateur topographical art for historical geographers and landscape historians. It examines the work of two amateur artists, Elizabeth Fanshawe and William Strangways, made in Liguria, northwest Italy, to assess the value of topographical art for understanding past landscapes. The identification and examination of the views takes advantage of a multidisciplinary approach which involves the use of historical cartography, oral history, written documents and field surveys. Three detailed case studies are used which provide insights into the landscape perception of early nineteenth-century foreign tourists and the cultural context in which they were produced. The determination of precise location allows rapidly sketched drawings to be understood and interrogated at the places they depicted. We argue that by grounding the drawings in this way we can add value both to the interpretation of the drawing itself and our understanding of the place it represents.
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spelling nottingham-512012018-04-17T10:12:45Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51201/ Topographical art and historical geography: amateur English representations of Ligurian landscape in the early nineteenth century Piana, Pietro Watkins, Charles Balzaretti, Ross This paper assesses the value of amateur topographical art for historical geographers and landscape historians. It examines the work of two amateur artists, Elizabeth Fanshawe and William Strangways, made in Liguria, northwest Italy, to assess the value of topographical art for understanding past landscapes. The identification and examination of the views takes advantage of a multidisciplinary approach which involves the use of historical cartography, oral history, written documents and field surveys. Three detailed case studies are used which provide insights into the landscape perception of early nineteenth-century foreign tourists and the cultural context in which they were produced. The determination of precise location allows rapidly sketched drawings to be understood and interrogated at the places they depicted. We argue that by grounding the drawings in this way we can add value both to the interpretation of the drawing itself and our understanding of the place it represents. Centro Italiano per gli Studi Storico-Geografici 2018-03-02 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51201/1/Ligurian%20landscape%20ADA2%2029%20Marzo%20Geostorie.pdf Piana, Pietro, Watkins, Charles and Balzaretti, Ross (2018) Topographical art and historical geography: amateur English representations of Ligurian landscape in the early nineteenth century. Geostorie . ISSN 1593-4578 (In Press) Topographical art; Landscape history; Land use changes; Liguria ; History of travel; Climate history
spellingShingle Topographical art; Landscape history; Land use changes; Liguria ; History of travel; Climate history
Piana, Pietro
Watkins, Charles
Balzaretti, Ross
Topographical art and historical geography: amateur English representations of Ligurian landscape in the early nineteenth century
title Topographical art and historical geography: amateur English representations of Ligurian landscape in the early nineteenth century
title_full Topographical art and historical geography: amateur English representations of Ligurian landscape in the early nineteenth century
title_fullStr Topographical art and historical geography: amateur English representations of Ligurian landscape in the early nineteenth century
title_full_unstemmed Topographical art and historical geography: amateur English representations of Ligurian landscape in the early nineteenth century
title_short Topographical art and historical geography: amateur English representations of Ligurian landscape in the early nineteenth century
title_sort topographical art and historical geography: amateur english representations of ligurian landscape in the early nineteenth century
topic Topographical art; Landscape history; Land use changes; Liguria ; History of travel; Climate history
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51201/