Title: Vue perspective de l'Interieur de St. Sulpice à Paris.

Perspective view of the interior of St. Sulpice in Paris.

Dimensions:  Sheet: 19"W x 12-7/8"H

                        Plate impression: 16-1/2"W x 11-3/8"H

The engraver: Unknown

Description:

This auction is for a hand colored Vue d’Optique engraving depicting the interior of the church of St. Sulpice, In Paris.

The foreground of the image shows worshippers in brightly colored garments, in bright colors and in lighter colors to indicate highlights.  There are also heavy shadows along the rows of arches on each side.  In the distance, all fades to lighter colors, as it does in real life.

I am showing two versions of the print.  The first is as it naturally appears.  The second is flipped horizontally, as it would appear in a viewer that presents a mirror image. 

The History:

The church of St. Sulpice stands at the east end of the Place St.-Sulpice, in the 6^th arrondissement of Paris.    

Please see Wikipedia for all the details.

The Technology:

Vues d'Optique, optical views, were designed to provide a perception of depth from a single two-dimensional engraving.  They were viewed through a zograscope, also known as an "optical diagonal machine," by which the user looked through a large magnifying lens into a mirror in which the image was reflected. Techniques such as exaggerated perspective, brighter foreground colors, magnification of the subject matter and tight framing of the field of vision served to disrupt the viewers perception of a two-dimensional image and helped to draw the viewer into the scene.  

It did not provide the kind of 3D experience afforded by the stereoscopic photography that replaced it in the mid 1800s, but from about 1750 until the advent of photography it was a popular home entertainment for the well-to-do.  It offered a greater sense of presence in views of foreign places and sights than one could experience in images on walls or in books. Titles are often seen in multiple languages under the image, with a single title mirrored in reverse above it so that one could read it in a viewer.