\paperw4800 \margr0\margl0 \plain \pard\tx8790\ATXts240\ATXbrdr0 \f1 Views, or \i vedute\i0 as they were called in Italian, were detailed representations of cities or other loca
tions that fulfilled the documentary function that photography represents today. This pictorial genre was originally associated with the desire to celebrate historic events or the deeds of famous people. By painting broad perspectives from a birdÆs-eye
view, exalting the conquests of military commanders or providing meticulous descriptions of battlefields artists lent credibility and verisimilitude to the events illustrated. Through paintings of cities, ports and castles rulers celebrated their power,
showing off their possessions to their guests.\par
\pard\ATXts240\ATXbrdr0 The genre of the \i veduta\i0 became extremely popular over the course of the eighteenth century. In fact numerous travelers who came to Italy would return from their trips wit
h small views of the most intimate corners of the cities they had visited. A taste for the picturesque also seems to characterize the lively landscapes painted by the Impressionists but in their works the subject lost its importance, becoming no more th
an a means of depicting patterns of light and color .
