Reviving this thread with one of my favourite paintings of Toronto, "Lights of a City Street" painted by Frederick Marlett Bell-Smith in 1894:
Owned by HBC, here is a description from their web-site:
Lights of a City Street is an incredible view of the intersection of King and Yonge Streets, full of unprecedented realism and detail. According to a clock on the main building located on the southeast corner, it is 4:58 p.m. The streets have been dampened by a light rainstorm passing through the city. Looking east, passengers board two of the new streetcars on the King route. In order to capture the temper of the times, Bell-Smith has replicated all of the names of the local businesses which have taken up residence at this busy intersection. We can clearly see the offices of the shipping company, Cunard S.S. Line, situated on the northeast corner, facing King Street.
If the faces of the numerous pedestrians milling about in the picture seem incredibly life-like, this is no accident. Bell-Smith set out to create a documentary atmosphere by incorporating real people with whom he was familiar, both professionally and personally. The helmeted policeman, draped in his rain cape and directing traffic, is Constable John William Redford from the Toronto Police Force. Redford was a regular fixture at the corner of King and Yonge, routinely directing traffic as depicted in the painting. Upon retiring from the force, he worked as a security guard for the Simpsons department store on Queen Street at Yonge. Two other significant people are portrayed elsewhere: the gentlemen being swamped by newspaper boys is the artist himself, and the man seen raising his hat in greeting to the women passing by is Bell-Smith’s son, the Reverend F.M. Bell-Smith.