Interior Elevation of Reims Cathedral with a Statue of King Louis II
Medium
Pen and black ink, watercolor
Dimensions
29 15/16 x 18 1/16 in. (76 x 45.9 cm)
Classification
Drawings|Ornament & Architecture
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Lincoln Kirstein, 1956
Accession Number
56.559.4
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the soaring grandeur of Reims Cathedral through this meticulous 1815 drawing by Charles Percier and Pierre François Léonard Fontaine, two leading French architects of the Napoleonic era. Titled *Interior Elevation of Reims with a Statue of King II*, it captures the's nave in exquisite detail, showcasing its iconic Gothic architecture—from ribbed vaults and flying buttresses to the prominent statue of the medieval king. Reims, the traditional site of French royal coronations, symbolized national heritage, making this a poignant depiction amid the post-Waterloo Restoration period. Per...
About the Artist
Charles Percier|Pierre François Léonard Fontaine · 1764–1838
Charles Percier (1764–1838) rose from humble origins in Paris, where his mother laundered for Marie-Antoinette and his father served as a porter at the Tuileries Palace, to become one of France's most influential neoclassical architects and designers. From age twelve, he attended a free drawing school for indigent students, honing his skills in the studio of painter Louis-Jean-François Lagrenée be...