Pont-Neuf, Paris
1853
Medium
Etching and drypoint; seventh state of eleven
Dimensions
Plate: 7 1/4 x 7 3/16 in. (18.4 x 18.3 cm) Sheet: 12 1/2 x 11 5/16 in. (31.8 x 28.7 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Theodore De Witt, 1917
Accession Number
17.22.17
Tags
Art Historical Context
Charles Meryon's *Pont-Neuf, Paris (1853) captures the iconic oldest bridge spanning the Seine River, a symbol of enduring Parisian architecture since its completion in 1607. As part of Meryon's renowned series *Eaux-Fortes sur Paris*, this etching celebrates the city's Gothic and Renaissance landmarks amid the transformative urban renewal of the 1850s under Baron Haussmann. Meryon, a visionary 19th-century French printmaker influenced by Romanticism, infused works with meticulous detail and atmospheric depth, evoking a nostalgic view of Paris before modernization. Rendered in etching and dry...
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...