Gothic designates an epoch of painting and architecture from the 12th until the 16th century. Mostly religious motifs are depicted but also secular motifs as scenes from court life can be found. Among the great names of gothic are Hieronymus Bosch, Giotto, and Matthias Grünewald, who created the paintings of the Isenheim Altar.
This implies the representation of constructional objects (houses, squares, bridges etc.) for their own sake, thus serving not only as staffage, background, or as attribute. There were architecture pictures already in ancient Pompeji. In Middle Ages depicted constructions just indicate a certain scene. The actual architecture picture arises in the 16th century in Netherlands(f. e. “Brueghel's Tower of Babel”). Dutch artists prevailed here up until the 17th century, and were followed by Italian artists in the 18th century. In modern times the representation of architecture has become a domain of photographers.