The Picturesque Abroad 15 items

In addition to invoking feelings of patriotism through picturesque scenes of Great Britain, the picturesque views of India, the Americas, and Africa introduced the British public to the expanding scope of their empire. These landscapes worked to normalize far off places and the people who lived there, making them less strange and threatening by painting them as exotic and enchanting. At the same time that these images inspired the viewer, they did so by silencing the horrific aspects of colonial expansion, composed without signs of the struggle, strife, and subjugation that made the empire possible.