Somerset Royal Palace View

Somerset Royal Palace View  is an original print realized by an anonymous artist at the end of the XVIII century (about 1760).

Titled below the image " Vue du Palais Royal Somerset du côté de la Tamise " with the imprint "a Paris chez Daumont rue St. Martin".

Hand-colored e ngraving. Good conditions, except for some stains and folds on the paper and a few signs of clipping along the margins.

Includes a passepartout: 41.6 x 52.5 cm.

The view in this artwork is known as "optical view", a particular kind of print that, if seen through a specific device called zograscope or optical box, gives the illusion of relief and three-dimensionality. These optical views were created and diffused mainly in the second half of the 18th century.

The artwork was printed by  Daumont , a well-known publisher of optical prints, established in Paris. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, there were many popular specialty establishments in Paris, Augsburg, and London that produced optical viewing devices and special engravings to be viewed through them. They are usually etched and invariably designed to be seen through a viewing machine, with consequent reversals of text and image. They often show monumental buildings (palaces, churches or town halls) or characteristic parts of towns. More rarely, they show portraits, moralistic and biblical themes, or historical events.

This artwork represents a romantic view of the  Somerset House, a large Neoclassical building situated in the south of the Strand in central London, overlooking the River Thames.  Along the avenues, groups of noblemen and ladies are walking and talking.

Enjoy all the other modern artworks on  Wallector.com!