Vue d'optique - Vue de l'église St Ouen à Rouen prise du jardin des plantes

Original engraving. Optical view heightened in watercolor, depicting a view of St. Ouen church in Rouen taken from the botanical garden. Optical views, also called vues, perspectives or "mondo nuovo", are engravings that were very fashionable between the late 18th and early 19th centuries. They were intended to be observed through a set of several mirrors or by means of a Zograscope, an instrument consisting of a mirror and a lens. Optical views can be considered as the precursors of three-dimensional images and stereoscopes which enjoyed great success from the 19th century onwards. Optical views seem to appear in the 1740s and were salon entertainments. The process was first developed in Paris, then London and finally in Germany and aimed to represent - in an idealized manner - the most famous panoramas and landscapes of East and West.
Some minimal foxing, otherwise a fine impression with very fresh colors.