\paperw19995 \margr0\margl0 \plain \fs20 \pard\tx8790\ATXts240\ATXbrdr0 \f1 The representation of landscapes first started appearing in European painting in the fifteenth
century, in the wake of the renewal of interest in humanity and its world. \par
\pard\ATXts240\ATXbrdr0 The artists of Northern Europe showed the greatest interest in observing nature and produced compositions as early as the sixteenth century
in which the historical subject appeared to be a mere pretext for sweeping views of the landscape. However, it was not until the eighteenth century that landscape painting became an independent genre that was appreciated in its own right. While eighte
enth-century artists undertook meticulous and realistic descriptions of cities that fitted in well with the scientific interests of the Age of Enlightenment, in the Romantic period paintersÆ emotions were stirred by grander scenes of nature prompting the
m to represent the savage force of elements in their works. When artists began leaving their studios and painting \i en plein air\i0 over the course of the nineteenth century, they discovered the light and colors of the countryside, the principal sourc
es of inspiration for the masters of Impressionism.
