Artwork
Partie de la Cité vers la fin du XVIIe siècle (View of the City of Paris Towards the Close of the XVIIth Century)
Partie de la Cité vers la fin du XVIIe siècle (View of the City of Paris Towards the Close of the XVIIth Century) is an ink print by the Impressionist artist Charles Meryon. It dates from 1861 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
Created in 1861, this black‑and‑white print by Charles Meryon belongs to his extensive series of Parisian views. Executed as an etching on laid paper, the image presents a densely built riverside street, its narrow façades leaning over the water, with smoke curling from chimneys and small boats drifting below.
Subject & Meaning
The composition captures a bustling 17th‑century Paris scene, though it reflects Meryon’s 19th‑century perspective. Details such as scaffolding, hanging shop signs, and pedestrians along the quay evoke the daily life of the era, while the title situates the view at the close of the 1600s.
Technique & Style
Meryon employed traditional etching methods, incising fine lines into a copper plate before printing onto laid paper. His meticulous attention to minute architectural elements and atmospheric effects creates a dense, almost Gothic atmosphere, characteristic of his broader body of work.
History & Provenance
Although the scene is set in the late 1600s, the print was produced over two centuries later, during Meryon’s mature period. The artist, who relied on etching because of his colour‑blindness, created this work amid personal struggles with mental illness, yet it remains a key example of his contribution to French printmaking.
Context
Meryon, the son of a dancer at the Paris Opera, emerged as the pre‑eminent French etcher of the 19th century. His oeuvre often reflects a nostalgic, Gothic vision of Paris, contrasting the modernizing city with its historic architecture, a theme evident in this river‑side view.
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.
