The phrase "earliest depictions" refers to the earliest known representations or portrayals of something, such as images, drawings, or descriptions, which provide evidence or clues about its existence or appearance in the past. Full definition
Artworks range from early depictions of Coney Island by impressionists William Merritt Chase and John Henry Twachtman to modern and contemporary images by Reginald Marsh, Weegee, Walker Evans, George Tooker and Red Grooms. (expressnews.com)
The series takes inspiration from early depictions of perspectival illusion, most notably Giotto's clustering of architectural structures. (goodman-gallery.com)
It's terrifying and gruelling, managing to make so many earlier depictions of these atrocities look tame and compromised. (timeout.com)