Galerie
Napoléon
- Paris - Collection of the Optical Views

Optical view of the Château de Vincennes (France)
XVIIIth century optical view in original watercolors. Original copper plate engraving on laid paper heightened with watercolor at that time. Published in Paris circa 1770

18th Century optical view in original watercolors of the Château de Vincennes (France)
Free Passepartout (available in 23 shades)
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177018th Century
  • Date : circa 1770
  • Century : 18th Century
  • Period : Louis XV
  • Technique : Strong water etching
  • Paper : Laid paper
  • Publisher : s.n.
  • Place of publication : Paris
  • Passepartout : 50.0 x 65.0 cm
  • Sheet : 30.0 x 43.0 cm
  • Plate : 25.0 x 40.0 cm
  • Inventory N° : FR-03378
500€
(Frame not included)
  • Certificate of authenticity
  • Passepartout included
  • Portfolio exacompta
  • Free shipping costs
  • Shipment within 24H
  • Online tracking

Original title

Vue d'Optique représantant Le Chateau de Vincennes du côté du Parc - Prospectus Regii Castelli Vicennarum a Septo

Description

XVIIIth century optical view in original watercolors. Original copper plate engraving on laid paper heightened with watercolor at that time. Published in Paris circa 1770, depicting a view of the Château de Vincennes (France).

During the 18th Century, several renowned establishments in Paris, London (England), Augsburg (Germany) and Bassano (Italy) were specialized in the creation of these optical views. They could be viewed alone or through a zograscope, a wooden foot surmounted by a lens which enlarged the image and accentuated the perspective effect. They could also be placed in optical boxes, the spectator then looked inside the box through the lens. This distraction was greatly appreciated in the 18th Century in the salons of the bourgeoisie and the nobility as in the countryside thanks to the hawkers.

These etchings are nowadays exhibited in museums around the world and extremely appreciated by collectors and decorators for their historical interest and their high decorative value.

Condition report

  • Perforated parts to create a light effect
  • Fold marks
  • A restored tear (3cm)

This strong water etching is listed in these categories :

Château de Vincennes

The Château de Vincennes is a massive 14th and 17th century French royal fortress in the town of Vincennes, to the east of Paris.

Like other more famous castles, it had its origins in a hunting lodge, constructed for Louis VII about 1150 in the forest of Vincennes. In the 13th century, Philip Augustus and Louis IX erected a more substantial manor: Louis IX is reputed to have departed from Vincennes on the crusade from which he did not return. To strengthen the site, the castle was greatly enlarged replacing the earlier site in the later 14th century. A donjon tower, 52 meters high, the tallest medieval fortified structure of Europe, was added by Philip VI of France, a work that was started about 1337. The grand rectangular circuit of walls, was completed by the Valois about two generations later (ca. 1410). The donjon served as a residence for the royal family, and its buildings are known to have once held the library and personal study of Charles V. Henry V of England died in the donjon in 1422 following the siege of Meaux.

In the 17th century, the architect Louis Le Vau built for Louis XIV a pair of isolated ranges mirroring one another across a parterre to one side of the keep, suited for the Queen Mother and Cardinal Mazarin, but rebuilding was never pursued once Versailles occupied all attentions. Some splendid apartments show the earliest phase of Louis XIV style, before the example of Vaux-le-Vicomte presented the Sun King with a worthy model.

The execution of the duc d'Enghien took place in the moat of the château on 21 March 1804.

General Daumesnil who lost a leg, which was replaced by a wooden prosthesis, at the battle of Wagram (5–6 July 1809), was assigned to the defence of the château de Vincennes in 1812. Vincennes was then an arsenal containing 52 000 new rifles, more than 100 field guns and many tons of powder... A tempting prize for the Sixth Coalition marching on Paris in 1814 in the aftermath of the Battle of the Nations. Daumesnil resisted to the Coalition until king Louis XVIII ordered to leave the fortress.

The park was recreated in the English landscape style in the 19th century. In 1860, Napoleon III, having employed Viollet-le-Duc to restore the keep and the chapel, gave the Bois de Vincennes to Paris as a public park.

The Optical View

The Galerie Napoléon is pleased to propose to you this strong water etching printed 254 years ago (around 1770).

As for all the antique prints in our catalogue, this optical view Vue d'Optique représantant Le Chateau de Vincennes du côté du Parc - Prospectus Regii Castelli Vicennarum a Septo datant de 1770 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 (1770).

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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Secured shipment

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.

Secured payment

  • Credit card secured by Paybox, european leader in the online payment (CB, Visa, Eurocard/Mastercard)
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  • Invoice payment (Reserved for european public entities : Museums, National Archives, Ministries, Town Halls ...)

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XVIIIth century optical view in original watercolors. Original copper plate engraving on laid paper with watermark heightened with watercolor at that time. Published by Jacques Chéreau in Paris circa 1780
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XVIIIth century optical view in original watercolors. Original copper plate engraving on laid paper with watermark heightened with watercolor at that time. Circa 1760
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XVIIIth century optical view in original watercolors. Original copper plate engraving on laid paper with watermark heightened with watercolor at that time. Published by Jean-François Daumont in Paris circa 1770
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Fortress

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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
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Historical Document - French Revolution - 1798 - Letter of the Minister for the War to the Directors of the Fortifications | Historical document dated 14 Brumaire Year 7 of the French Republic (November 4th, 1798) and Portrait of Lafayette

Historical Document - French Revolution - 1798 - Letter of the Minister for the War to the Directors of the Fortifications

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Optical view of the Fortifications of Augsburg (Germany) | XVIIIth century optical view in original watercolors. Original copper plate engraving on laid paper with watermark heightened with watercolor at that time. Published by Beauvais in Paris circa 1780

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XVIIIth century optical view in original watercolors. Original copper plate engraving on laid paper with watermark heightened with watercolor at that time. Published by Beauvais in Paris circa 1780
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