Grande Salle du Palais de Justice (The Great Hall in the Palace of Justice, Paris)
Jacques Androuet Du Cerceau
An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art
This is a very rare etching by Jacques Androuet Du Cerceau of the great hall in the Parisian Palace of Justice in its condition prior to the fire of 1601. The large medieval hall consists of two wide bays crowned by wood barrel vaults. The walls on either side of the hall, as well as the arcade in the center which separates the two bays, are lined with statues of the kings of France. A multitude of people is depicted in the space emphasizing the vast dimensions of the space. Du Cerceau likely intended the print to be included in the third (unexecuted) volume of his 'Les Plus Excellents Bastiments de France', which he announced on several occassions, but never completed. Only three other impressions of the print are known today at the Kunstbibliothek in Berlin, and the Bibliothèque Nationale and École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Because of its rarity Du Cerceau's etching was reproduced in two facscimile copies, one by Charles Meryon (also in the Museum’s collection), and one for H. Destailleur’s facsimile edition of 'Les Plus Excellents Bastiments de France par J.-A. Du Cerceau', published in Paris, 1868-1870.
Drawings and Prints
An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art
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.