19th-century visual arts inspired by Frisian nationalism followed on a dual tradition of commemorative medals and engravings of regional costumes. Frisian-themed paintings, such as portraits of the early medieval Frisian King Redbad, or a table of Frisian dishes, and commemorative monuments for sea-diking existed before 1800. After 1800, spreading nationalism and increasing tourism created a demand for such nationalistic productions.

Towns like Hindeloopen and Molkwerum had attracted attention because of their (purportedly Anglo-Saxon) layout; this interest was captured in engravings; genre scenes from Hindeloopen made the reputation of Christoffel Bisschop from 1860 onwards. Costume portraits also gained in popularity, especially those depicting women with head brooches. Maids, female waffle-sellers and vegetable-sellers were the preferred subject matter for these genre paintings. Particularly in the first decades of the century, however, prominent ladies from the towns also had their portraits painted wearing local Frisian costume. Landscapes and seascapes were popular subjects for paintings, and later on in the century country houses that were about to be demolished were painted as a way of documenting them. Thanks to tourism, pictures of the Gaasterlandse cliffs, the Water Gate in Sneek and the leaning tower of Oldehove developed into Frisian icons later in the century.

In 1828 the prohibition of burying the dead in churches put an end to a rich tradition of funerary hatchments, epitaphs and grave monuments. From that time onwards, only those who had achieved national fame were honoured through public monuments. These did not exist in Friesland before 1800. Initially, the provincial government bore responsibility for the coordination and sometimes also for the initiative and financing or co-financing pf such projects. In 1823 a bust of the 17th-century poet Gysbert Japix was placed in the Reformed church of Japix’s native Bolsward, on the recommendation of a local civic organization. In 1827 the Provincial Governor Humalda commissioned a painting of Eise Eisinga, the architect of the 18th-century planetarium in Franeker. The town had informed Humalda in 1826 that it wanted to erect “a long-lasting and public token of esteem and homage”. The portrait was placed in the council chamber.

Cultural societies took over the initiative in monumentalization efforts as the Frisian language, between c.1830 and 1880, became the main cohesive element for the region’s population. In 1835 the Fries Genootschap (“Frisian Association”, established in 1827) honoured the poet J.C.P. Salverda with a gravestone in Wons. The Frysk Selskip, established in 1843, put up a gravestone in 1863 for the language activist Harmen Sytstra in Baard. In 1875 and 1879 the society put up commemorative plaques to the brothers Eeltsje and Joast Halbertsma on the house in their birthplace, Grouw. A bust of the physician and writer Simon Stijl was donated to the town of Harlingen in 1860. It was placed in the hall of the town hall.

Later on in the century, the more distant past became the topic of choice. When in 1891 the Fries Museum was extended with a special wing containing a library, prints and paintings, the Fries Genootschap, who commissioned it, wished to have the façade decorated with sculptures and tile pictures to highlight the function of the new building. A national Frisian programme was devised which glorified the 17th-century Golden Age and native traditions (the lex Frisonum as codified under Charlemagne). Crowned by a lion supporting the coat of arms of Friesland, it was to represent sculpture and architecture, three 17th-century Frisian stadtholders as protectors of the arts, and Charlemagne as the bringer of Christian civilization. The ensemble was not fully completed; the elements which did see the light of day were the spandrel ornamentation above the windows, consisting of portraits of representatives of 17th-century arts, crafts and letters (including Japix), inspired by the recent spandrels in the north façade of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. In 1891 the Fries Genootschap conceived the plan to erect a separate statue in honour of the historical Stadtholder William Louis of Nassau. It was finalized in 1906 in collaboration with the Vereniging ter Bevordering van Vreemdelingenverkeer (“Tourism Board”) and unveiled by Queen Wilhelmina.

In the last quarter of the century, government-commissioned work in the province started to invoke the particular Frisian character, and Frisian-language texts were used, albeit to a limited extent. A 1884 stone commemorating the renovation of an outlet sluice was inscribed in Frisian, dikes and their management having traditionally been perceived as national heritage. In 1894 the new provincial government building (Statenhal) was fitted out with nationally-themed stained-glass windows and mural paintings. Confessional monuments appeared as well: the reformer Menno Simons was commemorated by the Mennonites with a memorial column set up in Witmarsum in 1879; Catholics in turn built the St Boniface chapel in Dokkum in 1934 on the spot where the evangelist Boniface had been murdered in 754. Constructed in the form of a Roman amphitheatre,its procession gallery depicts the story of Boniface.