Autre Vue Particulière de Paris depuis Nôtre Dame, Jusques au Pont de la Tournelle

Autre Vue Particulière de Paris depuis Nôtre Dame, Jusques au Pont de la Tournelle

Jacques Rigaud

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

In this view of Paris from the Quai de Miramion, the focus is very much on the action of life along the Seine. Workmen handle cargo in boats on the river, a lady and gentleman clasp hands in the right foreground, and draft horses pull a load of wood on the far right. The two coaches in the foreground suggest the passage or arrival of wealthy passengers. The vantage point is one of several that Rigaud selected in his series of views of Paris. Rather than focusing on a single monument, the print displays a broad panorama. Notre Dame, the great Gothic cathedral of Paris, is placed in the distance on the far left, and the buildings of the Right Bank (Rive Droite) are visible in the background.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Autre Vue Particulière de Paris depuis Nôtre Dame, Jusques au Pont de la TournelleAutre Vue Particulière de Paris depuis Nôtre Dame, Jusques au Pont de la TournelleAutre Vue Particulière de Paris depuis Nôtre Dame, Jusques au Pont de la TournelleAutre Vue Particulière de Paris depuis Nôtre Dame, Jusques au Pont de la TournelleAutre Vue Particulière de Paris depuis Nôtre Dame, Jusques au Pont de la Tournelle

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.