Optical view of the Tuileries Palace in Paris (France)
Early XIXth century optical view in original watercolors. Original copper plate engraving on laid paper heightened with watercolor at that time. Published by Basset in Paris circa 1820

Palais des Tuileries

The Palais des Tuileries is a former Parisian palace whose construction began in 1564 under the impetus of Catherine de Medici, on the site previously occupied by one of the three tile factories established in 1372 not far from the old Louvre. The queen then bought the Tuileries house, several neighboring properties, as well as a large piece of land belonging to the Quinze-Vingts hospital. She had them shaved and asked the architects Philibert Delorme, then after his death in 1570, to Jean Bullant, to build a palace there which was to rise west of the Louvre.

During the reign of Charles IX, the construction site of the Tuileries was gradually abandoned. Henry III gave some parties there, but did not reside there; however, he fled from Paris through the Tuileries garden, on May 12, 1588, during Barricade Day.

At the beginning of the 17th century, Henri IV decided to link the Louvre to the Palais des Tuileries by having a long gallery built along the Seine. The Grande-Galerie was built from 1607 to 1610 by Jacques II Androuet du Cerceau. After the death of Henry IV in 1610, the palace again experienced a long period of abandonment. It was Louis XIV who decided to resume work with the architects Louis Le Vau and François d'Orbay.

The Optical View

The Galerie Napoléon is pleased to propose to you this strong water etching printed 204 years ago (around 1820).

As for all the antique prints in our catalogue, this optical view VUE DU CHATEAU DES TUILERIES PRISE DU JARDIN datant de 1820 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 (1820).

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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