Historical art as a source of insight for studies of environmental change

The field of historical ecology continues to grow as we seek to understand the magnitudes and rates of environmental change and to quantify impacts of the Anthropocene. Historical artwork has not been widely recognized as a tool in this endeavor, but we find that it can be a valuable source of insight. We conducted a literature review that identified 34 peer‐reviewed articles in which historical artwork (primarily paintings) was used to explore past ecological and environmental conditions. Several of these articles explicitly addressed concerns raised around potential bias in artwork, and some noted that collaboration with art historians can help address questions of reliability. Articles included within this review fell largely into four categories based on image focus and the time period during which the artwork was created: Neolithic cave paintings; ancient Greco‐Roman mosaics and pottery; still‐life paintings and sketches (10th–17th centuries CE); and landscape paintings, engravings, and sketches (16th–20th centuries CE).