The Sister Arts - British Gardening, Painting, & Poetry (1700-1832)
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Picturesque > Painting > Intro

In painting, the picturesque most often takes the form of quaint or rural subject matter—laboring peasants, gypsies, or shepherds—presented in colorful if sometimes ragged clothing in natural but not threatening settings. Picturesque elements also include some kind of frame-within-the-frame (a view between swaying tree branches or an archway, for example), and quaint objects such as farmer’s implements. Paintings of picturesque landscapes or gardens themselves, of course, are the best example of picturesque painting.