Preview
Creation Date
After 1687
Geography
Paris, France
Culture
French
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
With frame: 17 1/8 × 20 3/8 × 1 5/8 in. (43.4 × 51.7 × 4.1 cm)
Credit Line
Long-term Loan from the Estate of Boris Blick, 2015
Accession Number
2015.91
Provenance
According to Professor Sarah Blick, this print was acquired by Boris Blick in Paris in the mid-1950s, possibly from one of the print dealers that lined the Seine.
Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings
Beneath image, lower left: "1. Passage du Pont de / l'Hôtel Dieu. / 2.Palais et 3, Tour de / l'Archevéché. / 4 Nôtre Dame."; lower right, "5. Jardin du Terrein. / 6. Maisons du Cloître/ 7. L'Isle Nôtre Dame. / 8 Grand 🙰 9 . Petit / Cours de la Riviere"
Beneath image, lower center, within curly brackets: "LA TESTE DE L'ISLE DU PALAIS derriere l'Eglise Nôtre Dame á l'endroit où la Riviere se divise en deux Bras pour former le grand et le petit Cours, / est revetüe d'un Quay de pierre de taille, qui embrasse ce qu on nomme le Terrein Sur lequel le Chapitre á fait planter un Jardin en 1687. Le Pont del'Hôtel Dieu fut / bâto en 1636. Il porte un grand Bâtiment dans sa langueur et un autre plus grand en travers sur sa premiere Arche dont la voute est continüée jusqu'à un autre Pont / derriere celui ci qui communique à ce dernier Bâtiment qu'on apelle la Salle de Sṭ Charles. / A Paris chez I·Mariette rue Sṭ Jaques à la Victoire. Avec Privilege du Roi."
Each numbered location beneath the image corresponds to a numbered location within the image.
Creator Biography
Pierre Mariette I (ca. 1603-1657) founded a print publishing and dealing dynasty that would extend through his son, Pierre Mariette II (1634–1716), and grandson, Pierre Jean Mariette (1694–1774). The dating of a garden in the text of this map suggests that it was made after 1687, and therefore by one of the younger Mariettes. It should also be noted for future research that, while the back of the print is currently covered, Pierre II was known to write “PMariette” on the back of his prints, with the earliest record of this being on a Rembrandt etching in 1646, when he was 12.
In this print, there is a discrepancy between the name, “I·Mariette,” and location, “rue Sṭ Jaques à la Victoire,” provided of the printer. “rue St. Jacques à la Victoire” is the location at which another printer, Nicolas I Langlois (1640–1703), worked. However, there is a connection between these two printers.
Nicolas I Langlois’ father was François Langlois, il Ciartres (1588–1647), a publisher working out of rue Saint-Jacques Colonnes d'Hercule, and his mother was Madeleine Langlois (née de Collemont). When François died, Madeleine traded at his Colonnes d'Hercule location from 1647 to 1655, the year she married Pierre Mariette II and he took over Colonnes d'Hercule. He would pass Colonnes d’Hercule to his son Pierre Jean in 1691.
Pierre II was now Nicolas I Langlois’ step-father, and Nicolas was not legally allowed to trade with him, therefore settling at rue St. Jacques, à la Victoire. Upon his death in 1703, Nicolas I would leave rue St. Jacques à la Victoire to his son, Nicolas Langlois II (ca.1670–1707). When Nicolas II died, his stock passed to the Mariette family, Pierre Jean the executor of his will.
While the name Mariette, after the death of François Langlois, is tied to Colonnes d'Hercule, and the name N. Langlois to rue St. Jacques à la Victoire, the attribution of this print to Mariette and rue St. Jacques à la Victoire could be the result of the passing of Nicolas II’s stock to the Mariettes after his death.
Adam Perelle, French, 1640–1695 (etcher).
Description
Etching depicting a panoramic view of Paris, focusing on the River Seine as it flows through the city. Small boats are scattered throughout the water. In the center of the composition lies the Notre Dame, shown from behind garden walls; from either side of the cathedral, the city spreads out in a collection of buildings and churches.
If one wished to explore “the squares, gates, fountains, churches, and houses of Paris,” one topographical representation they may have paged through was Les places, portes, fontaines, églises, et maisons de Paris (1690). Originally published in the collection, this print looks over the River Seine towards the back facade of Notre Dame rising over Paris, the number “4” corresponding it to the key in the lower margin. Lying at the intersection of two publishing families, this etching is credited to “I·Mariette.” However, it was originally published in Les places by, and credited to, N. Langlois—step-son of Pierre Mariette II. For reasons yet unknown, this edition of the print has changed the name of the printer, but not the print shop location.
The British Museum has a print (1873,0809.1099) whose description, size (if measured directly around the plate mark), and abbreviation of the inscription all match this print, but as of March 2024, they have not uploaded an image. However, their print’s publication line states “N. Langlois” as the publisher, rather than “I·Mariette.” This is more in alignment with the printer known to work at the location inscribed on both prints, “rue Sṭ Jaques à la Victoire.”
The British Museum also attributes this print to French engraver Adam Perelle (1640–1695), whose prints Nicolas Langlois I published on multiple occasions and who is known as the engraver for Les places, portes, fontaines, églises, et maisons de Paris (1960).