Vue d'optique - Décoration du feu d'artifice tiré à Londres en réjouissance de la paix en 1763

Original engraving. Optical view enhanced in watercolor, depicting a view of the fireworks display at Green Park, London in celebration of peace in 1763
Optical views, also called views, perspectives or "mondo nuovo", are engravings very much in vogue between the end of the 18th and early 19th centuries. They were intended to be observed through a set of several mirrors or by means of a Zygrascope, 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 developed first in Paris, then London and finally in Germany and sought to represent - in an idealized manner - the most famous panoramas and landscapes of East and West.
Proof with very fresh colors, one fold mark and minor soiling.