Vue d'optique - Vue du palais royal à Bruxelles.

Original engraving. Optical view heightened in watercolor, depicting a view of the Royal Palace of Brussels.
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 viewed through a set of mirrors or by means of a Zograscope, an instrument consisting of a mirror and a lens. Optical views can be considered 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 focused on representing - in an idealized manner - the most famous panoramas and landscapes of East and West.
Fine impression with very fresh colors.