Travels and urban iconography reached in the Modern age increasing levels of quantity and quality. Images of cities and landscapes enjoyed artistic success and rapid circulation in the printed form. The evolution and transformation of urban iconography was due to an ever-changing market and its patronage by leading figures in the world of politics and diplomacy, the aristocracy and the clergy, and by men-at-arms spread around Europe. Mobility reshaped the world so much that it was to herald the dawn of the global world. As part of a strategy that enhanced the efficacy and relevance of messages the images transmitted, the manner and place in which the images were reproduced were of no lesser importance. One can find a huge number of reproductions on mediums which, in addition to paintings, prints and drawings, included both high- and low-grade material. The study of ‘urban portraits’ allows to broaden the views over the vast and ever-changing world. Therefore, cities and landscapes are to be found in them, along with information about economy, architecture, everyday life and social conditions, confessional and political urban life.
Until the end of nineteenth century Eastern and Western Europe interacted more, influencing each other. Eastern Europe has been disconnected by this cultural process from the Second World War to the Fall of Berlin Wall. During this period cultural exchanges were stopped and a new urban imagery of eastern cities has been created in/for the west. Today urban iconography of East European cities spread in museums and collections worldwide is waiting to be reconnected with the most recent international studies.
This session welcomes proposals of case studies or specific topics of images of towns and landscapes that contributed to the knowledge of Eastern Europe from the 16th century to the dawn of photography. Some other questions that should join the session are: which is the role of urban iconography în globalization process? Is it possible to trace modern cities views for building 20th-century narrative histories? What are the cultural implications and the geographical connections within the images of cities and landscapes that are reshaping Eastern Europe? Can museums of the cities be considered as creators of glocal urban narratives?