Vue d'optique - Vue de la grande place à Tournay.

Original engraving. Optical view heightened in watercolours, depicting a view of the grand square of Tournai.
Optical views, also called vues, perspectives or "mondo nuovo", are engravings very much in vogue 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 appear to have emerged in the 1740s and were salon entertainments. The process was first developed in Paris, then London and finally in Germany and was dedicated to representing - in an idealized manner - the most famous panoramas and landscapes of East and West.
Fine impression with very fresh colours.