Artwork
The Pavillon de Mademoiselle and part of the Louvre
The Pavillon de Mademoiselle and part of the Louvre is a print by the Romanticist artist Charles Meryon. It dates from 1849 and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
About this work
Overview
Created in 1849, *The Pavillon de Mademoiselle and part of the Louvre* is a black‑and‑white etching by French printmaker Charles Meryon.
Created in 1849, *The Pavillon de Mademoiselle and part of the Louvre* is a black‑and‑white etching by French printmaker Charles Meryon. The composition captures a bustling riverside along the Seine, where a columned building—part of the Louvre complex—anchors the scene. A nearby pavilion, likely a temporary structure, and a crowded bridge frame a lively tableau of pedestrians, boaters, and a rocky shoreline under a lightly rendered sky.
Subject & Meaning
Meryon’s print juxtaposes the monumental architecture of the Louvre with the ordinary movements of Parisian life. By foregrounding boats, pedestrians, and a rugged shore, the work emphasizes the coexistence of historic grandeur and everyday activity, reflecting the artist’s interest in the city’s lived reality rather than purely heroic or decorative views.
Technique & Style
The image is executed entirely in etching, a medium Meryon favored after discovering his color‑blindness. His line work is precise yet expressive, rendering architectural details with clarity while allowing atmospheric elements—clouds, water ripples, and distant figures—to remain loosely suggested. This balance of exactness and mood typifies his Gothic‑tinged, Romantic approach to urban scenes.
History & Provenance
Charles Meryon, regarded as the pre‑eminent French etcher of the nineteenth century, produced this work during a prolific period before his mental health declined. Although he later spent his final years in an asylum, his prints, including this view of the Louvre, circulated among collectors and contributed to his posthumous reputation as a leading figure in French printmaking.
Artist & collection
Artist
Charles Meryon (sometimes Méryon, 23 November 1821 – 14 February 1868) was a French artist who worked almost entirely in etching, as he had colour blindness.
L'ancien Louvre d'après une peinture de Zeeman, 1651 (The Old Louvre, from a Painting by Zeeman, 1651)
Landscape with Chateau
Le Pont-au-Change
Partie de la cité vers la fin du XVIIe siècle
L'ancien Louvre d'après une peinture de Zeeman, 1651 (The Old Louvre, from a Painting by Zeeman, l651)
Landscape
Le Pont-au-Change, Paris, vers 1784