People who had visited Tangier were not the only ones to cash in on the demand for exotic paintings, but pictures of English Tangier created by people who had not set foot on the city are likely to be of dubious accuracy.
The painting of the Siege of Tangier, by an unknown artist, shown above was probably commissioned by the descendant of someone who had served in Tangier. Unfortunately almost everything in this panoramic view is inaccurate.
The Siege of Tangier actually took place in 1680. Little fighting took place after that year.
The shape of the city is nothing like the plan of Tangier as shown in every other map of the city, and verified by Elbl.
The depiction of Tangier harbour is completely fictitious bearing no relationship to the surveys carried out for the Crown and shown in numerous documents.
Although the besieging army undoubtedly contained some Turks, the commanders and soldiers were mainly Berbers, who did not wear Turkish turbans and clothes. Such a change from previous battles would have been noted by observers of the time.
The Moroccan besiegers had few cannon at their disposal, which is why the siege lasted so long and cost so many Moroccan lives.