Daumont

Pair of optical views of the Tuileries Palace and Gardens

Le Grand Bassin au bout de la grande allée des Thuilleries a Paris
Le Jardin des Tuilleries en face du Palais du Louvre a Paris

A decorative pair of etched Vues d'Optique in original hand colour; published by Daumont in Paris circa 1760.

These enchanting birds eye views of the Tuileries Gardens show fashionable, pre-revolutionary Paris at its most opulent. Crowds of well-dressed people throng the gardens in front of the Louvre Palace alongside the most intricate and ambitious topiary of pleached trees. The architecture of the Louvre both dominates and intimidates and one can only imagine the scale of the excess that led to its construction.

The prints are engraved with a deliberately enhanced sense of perspective that leads the eye into the centre of the image. They were designed for the dual purpose of being viewed purely at face value or with the enhancements offered when seen through the lens of a zograscope or view-finder.

£700 Pair