 The first fractal image that was intended to be a work of art was probably the famous one on the cover of "Scientific American", August 1985.This image showed a landscape formed from the potential function on the domain outside the (usual) Mandelbrot set.However, as the potential function grows fast near the boundary of the Mandelbrot set, it was necessary for the creator to let the landscape grow downwards, so that it looked as if the Mandelbrot set was a plateau atop a mountain with steep sides.