Paintings of the Nusantara Archipelago in a Book Titled De Indische Archipel, 1865

The need for visual illustration existed even before the advent of photographic technology. Previously, humans used painting to capture a landscape, building, or self-portrait.

The following are some of the Nusantara paintings that are in an antique book published in 1865 entitled De Indische Archipel / The Indian Archipelago (Nusantara).

Image: Frans Lebret/Atlas van Stolk

This painting depicts the daily atmosphere in rural Java with shepherd children herding a buffalo.

Image: Louis de Stuers/Atlas van Stolk

This painting depicts the virgin nature of Lake Tondano, Minahasa.

Image: Raden Saleh/Atlas van Stolk

This painting depicts tiger hunting activities in Priangan or West Java. Painted by the famous Indonesian painter, Raden Saleh.

Image: Charles Theodore Deeleman/Atlas van Stolk

This painting depicts the splendor of the largest landscape in West Sumatra, Ngarai Sianok.

With these paintings, the need for illustrations in a book can be fulfilled even though there was no photography technology yet. When this book was published in 1865, photographic technology already existed, but not many things have been captured with cameras as they are today.