View from the Royal Palace 

Dumitru Ghiatza painted this view of Bucharest from the Royal Palace with oil on canvas, but when exactly is difficult to say. His aerial perspective offers a glimpse into the city's urban fabric, dominated by rooftops and punctuated by a looming Orthodox cathedral. It’s a composition that evokes a sense of place, reflecting the socio-political climate of Romania, from sometime in the early to mid-20th century when Bucharest underwent waves of modernization and nationalistic fervor. The presence of the Royal Palace as the vantage point cannot be ignored. Through the lens of social history, we can ask: how did the Royal Palace function as an institution shaping artistic production? How did the artist's positioning in relation to power influence the narrative? To answer such questions, we can refer to the archival records of the Romanian Royal Family, the Romanian Artists' Syndicate, and visual studies of Bucharest’s urban development.