Partie de la Cité vers la fin du XVIIe siècle (View of the City of Paris Towards the Close of the XVIIth Century)
1861
Medium
etching on laid paper
Dimensions
image: 12.9 × 28.9 cm (5 1/16 × 11 3/8 in.) plate: 15 × 32.5 cm (5 7/8 × 12 13/16 in.) sheet: 29.7 × 44.8 cm (11 11/16 × 17 5/8 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1943.3.6674
Art Historical Context
Step into 17th-century Paris through Charles Meryon's masterful 1861 etching, *Partie de la Cité vers fin du XVIIe siècle (View of the City Paris Towards the Close of XVIIth Century). This print, measuring just 12.9 × 28.9 cm, captures the historic heart of city—the Île de la Cité—with its Gothic spires, bustling bridges, and winding Seine, evoking the grandeur of Louis XIV's era before Haussmann's sweeping renovations transformed Paris. Meryon, a pioneering 19th-century etcher, revived the medium's poetic potential during a revival of printmaking artistry. Working on laid paper, he incised f...
About the Artist
Charles Meryon · 1821–1868
Charles Meryon, born on November 23, 1821, in Paris, was the illegitimate son of English physician Dr. Charles Lewis Meryon and dancer Pierre-Narcisse Chaspoux (stage name Narcisse Gentil) at the Paris Opéra. His half-sister Fanny, from his mother's prior relationship with Viscount Lowther, remained in contact after their mother's death in 1838. Raised partly outside Paris before attending Pension...