Landscape Painting in the Research of Landscape Changes

Abstract

The article analyses possibilities of using landscape paintings in the studies of land cover changes. It examines 112 paintings from 1728 till 1976 and compares them with existing topographic maps. It compares land cover depicted in the paintings with present landscape and it studies changes of landscape derived from topographic maps from several periods, ranging from 1764 till 2006. In order to make the analyses, all paintings had to be localised as precisely as possible. This was done with the help of present map and by field work. Field work was also necessary for identifying main land use/cover changes in comparison to landscape painting. A TopoLandUse database, consisting of land use vector data from five periods, based on vectorisation of topographical maps, was used for analysing land use/land cover changes, their rates and main trends.

Keywords

• landscape painting
• land cover change
• czech republic