La Tour de l’Horloge

La Tour de l’Horloge is a beautiful engraving by the French artist Charles Meryon engraved around 1850. The state of preservation is very good. Only two tiny stains of dirt on the right margin of the paper. At the bottom, inside the matrix, there are the following inscriptions: “ Publié par L’Artiste – La Tour de l’Horloge – Imp ?Orng D Làtre R S Jacque 171 ”.

Charles Meryon  was a French engraver, painter, draftsman, and poet. He lived an adventurous life and traveled often as a Marine before dedicating himself exclusively to engraving from 1848. He engraved 72 plates on Paris, some of which, like Tour de l’Horloge , published by the important Parisian magazine L’Artiste . He realized mainly architectures, seascapes, scenes with ornithological subjects, and some portraits. His prints are characterized by a rigorous game of intersecting lines, by a precision deserving of a naval draftsman, by a bold chiaroscuro with dramatic effects and romantic fantasies. He often included captions in verses in his engravings.

La Tour de l’Horloge depicts the famous Gothic clock tower in Paris from the opposite bank of the river, with the vision of the bridge and of a boat.

The engraving is beautiful, rich in chiaroscuro and very precise in the hatching and perspective. Surely a precious and amazing artwork.