Maritime

Wales’s strong maritime tradition is reflected in the collections of Amgueddfa Cymru which include ship portraits and images of the ports which enabled the global reach of Welsh industries.

Ship portraitists worked at most larger ports, producing paintings to order for ships’ officers and crew before photographs of ships displaced ship paintings. Mariners commissioning ship portraits required them to be detailed and very accurate. These ship portraits are shown here.

In the 1970s and 1980s Amgueddfa Cymru staff photographed the rapidly changing environment of Cardiff Bay ahead of sweeping changes and new construction projects. These photos are shown here.