Term: Landscape

John Constable, Weymouth Bay

Landscapes are works of art that feature scenes of nature considered picturesque. Landscapes depict scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests. The sky is almost always included and weather often plays a part in landscape compositions. Landscapes are typically seen from a distance or an elevation and have a wide view. Landscapes with a particular focus may also be called by other names such as, cityscapes (urban settings), seascapes (views of the ocean), waterscapes (large bodies of fresh water), and so forth.

The word landscape is from the Dutch, landschap, originally meaning a patch of cultivated ground. The word entered the English language at the start of the 17th century, purely as a term for works of art. Landscape format refers to a picture plane that has a width which is greater than its height, which is the most common format used in landscape paintings.