Optical view of Pantheon in Paris (France)
Early XIXth century optical view in original watercolors. Original strong water etching heightened with watercolor at that time. Published by Basset & Debour et Gangel in Paris circa 1840

Panthéon

The Panthéon is a building in the Latin Quarter in Paris, France. It was built as a church dedicated to the patron saint of Paris, Saint Genevieve, to house the reliquary châsse containing her relics, but was secularized during the French Revolution and converted into a mausoleum for the remains of distinguished French citizens.

King Louis XV vowed in 1744 that if he recovered from his illness he would replace the dilapidated church of the Abbey of St Genevieve with a grander building worthy of the patron saint of Paris. He did recover, but ten years passed before the reconstruction and enlargement of the church was begun. In 1755 The Director of the King's public works, Abel-François Poisson, marquis de Marigny, chose Jacques-Germain Soufflot to design the church. Soufflot had studied classical architecture in Rome. Most of his early work was done in Lyon. Saint Genevieve became his life's work; it was not finished until after his death.

His first design was completed in 1755, and was clearly influenced by the work of Bramante he had studied in Italy. It took form of a Greek cross, with four naves of equal length, and monumental dome over the crossing in the centre, and a classical portico with Corinthian columns and a peristyle with a triangular pediment on the main façade. The design was modified five times over the following years, with the addition of a narthex, a choir, and two towers. The design was not finalised until 1777.

The foundations were laid in 1758, but due to economic problems work proceeded slowly. In 1780, Soufflot died and was replaced by his student Jean-Baptiste Rondelet. The re-modelled Abbey of St. Genevieve was finally completed in 1790, shortly after the beginning of the French Revolution.

The Optical View

The Galerie Napoléon is pleased to propose to you this strong water etching printed 184 years ago (around 1840).

As for all the antique prints in our catalogue, this optical view VUE DU PANTHÉON datant de 1840 is dispatched worldwide within 24H in a Secured packaging, accompanied by its certificate of authenticity guaranteeing the name of the artists (draughtsman, engraver, editor), the impression process used (Strong water) and its date (1840).

In order to guarantee a perfect conservation in time, this strong water etching is dispatched, ready to be framed, under museum quality color passepartout (manufactured without acid in the pulp for a neutral pH) on a cream mountboard made from carton bois (also acid free & neutral pH), in a luxurious portfolio.

History of the Optical views

At the apogee of the mode for optical views, between 1750 and 1790, four European cities specialized in their edition: Paris (France), London (England), Augsburg (Germany) and Bassano (Italy).

Optical views are prized in very different social circles : pleasant recreation in aristocratic salons, the views are admired in beautiful and richly decorated optical boxes which are real works of art. The show was transformed into a real scientific experiment. But the optical views also entertained the people who were in a hurry when a hawker set up a box on a market and began to narrate the extraordinary events that had taken place in a more or less distant and inaccessible country.

There are three categories in the production of optical views.

• Topographic views: Cities, Monuments, Ports, Distant regions, reproduced with more or less accuracy, depending on the documents available to the engraver. It is obvious that the authors of these prints had not seen these territories. They therefore recomposed these landscapes by compiling various engravings and drawings, which explains many fantasies.
• The historical scenes : Inaugurations, Coronations, Battles, Fires or Natural disasters form a subject that the people are fond of.
• Views with a religious or moralizing theme. For educational value, these prints were mainly produced by Parisian publishers in the rue Saint-Jacques.

Our Guarantee

With more than 20 years experience and a catalogue of more than 40.000 antique prints, drawings and historical documents dating from the 14th to the 19th century, the Galerie Napoléon, parisian antique dealer's gallery, is one of the world references in the field of antique prints,etchings and antique graphic arts.

In addition to thousands of impassioned of antique prints throughout the world, the Galerie Napoléon is honoured to count among its customers : national archives, museums, historical monuments and important home designer companies. All attracted by the extraordinary diversity of its catalogue and the quality and speed of its services.

This experience allows us to guarantee to each one of our customers the authenticity of the antiques in our catalogue and the shipment of their orders within 24 hours.

Free customization

Customize for free the color of your museum quality bevel cut edge passepartout (acid free & neutral pH) among a color chart of 23 shades.
This option will be offered to you free of charge in the cart.

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All our antiques can be shipped worldwide. The orders are dispatched within 24H in a secured packaging.

The Galerie Napoléon offers free shipping for all orders over 50EUR for France, 70EUR for all EU destinations and 90EUR for worldwide destinations.

For orders below these amounts, the shipping costs are 8EUR for France, 12EUR for all EU destinations and 17EUR for worldwide destinations.

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