Boulevard des Italiens at Night, Paris, Engraving after Eugène Lami, c. 1845

A rare night scene of the Boulevard des Italiens in Paris, after Eugène Lami, engraved by E. Radclyffe.

A full moon hangs over the rooftops while the lit windows of a grand corner building throw light into the street. Carriages, cabs and a horse drawn omnibus crowd the roadway, gentlemen in top hats and ladies in wide skirts throng the pavement under the trees, and gas lamps glow along the boulevard. The engraver has worked the dark sky in dense ruled lines to make the lights shine.

The plate is lettered "Eugene Lami" and "E. Radclyffe", with the title "Italian Boulevards", captions in French and German, "Boulevard des Italiens" and "Italiänische Boulevard", and the imprint "Fisher, Son and Co. London. H. Mandeville, Paris". It belongs to the Fisher series of views of France of the mid 1840s and is dated circa 1845.

The Boulevard des Italiens was the heart of fashionable Paris under the July Monarchy, lined with cafés, theaters and clubs. Eugène Lami was the great painter of Parisian society, and this is one of the liveliest plates of the series.

A striking piece for a dining room or bar, and a talking point among more conventional daylight views. The engraved image measures about 10.3 by 16.1 cm (height by width), and the margins around it carry all the original lettering, which is worth keeping visible in the mat.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.