Ever since humans began to travel and trade by sea, we have depicted ships and boats in our works of art. The earliest known examples of marine art are in the form of Egyptian tomb paintings dating from as early as the 14th Century BC:
The culture of classical Greece produced some wonderful depictions of ships on terracotta vases. One fine example is the Odysseus Vase, now in the British Museum. Made around 480 BC, it depicts Odysseus tied to the mast as he hears the magical but usually fatal song of the Sirens.
One of the earliest known works of a maritime harbour scene is from the ancient Roman city of Stabiae, which was buried in the catastrophic eruption of Vesuvius in 79 BC, which also destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum.
Stabiae is most famous for the Roman villas found near the ancient city which are regarded as some of the most stunning architectural and artistic remains from any Roman villas. They are the largest concentration of excellently preserved, enormous, elite seaside villas known in the Roman world. This fresco, depicting a seaport, was found in one of the patrician houses.
The genre continues up to the present day, with artists like Geoff Hunt, Geoffrey Huband, Jenny Morgan and John Christian exploring our ancient relationship with the sea.