On the banks of the Bosphorus by Felix Ziem

Tweet

The beautiful landscape seems to be a depiction of a lovely afternoon at the banks of Bosphorus. Felix’s take on portraying landscapes with cultural importance of the place again strikes here with people gathered under a tree and the glimpse of the historically known city of Istanbul in the backdrop.

Maybe Felix had a tendency to depict the places with some meaning or the importance inherited within them. Because, his choice of places and furthermore, the choice of vintage point from where he depicts the place always includes the major elements of the place, all of which has their own allegories and major part in the story of the place.

In current the presented depiction, it just feels just a beautiful painting of an afternoon. But when you find out the history of the depicted elements you come to know that artist doesn’t choose his places randomly.

The city lying long on the bank of Bosphorus is called Istanbul today, while for some times in back days was called Constantinople, the city which appears in almost every history books. The stream is no other but the Canal of Bosphorus, which departs Asia from Europe and becomes the connection between the Black-sea and the Marmara Sea. Today, the stream is one of the busiest waterways in the world and there is no doubt to say that it had the same importance in the days of the artist.

Now, as the main attraction point, Felix has depicted some travelers resting under a tree. It could be a symbol of the peace, the city enjoys now.

In every aspect, artist’s attraction to the historical places could be derived from his most of the landscape and here once again he makes us remember about another heritage of the world.