Place de la Concorde, Paris, Antique Steel Engraving after T. Allom, circa 1845

A wide, elevated view of the Place de la Concorde in Paris, seen from the left bank across the Seine. The Pont de la Concorde enters from the lower left, its lamps and balustrade leading the eye into the great open square, where the Luxor obelisk rises between two splashing fountains. Carriages, riders and strollers are scattered across the paving, and laden barges are moored against the quay at lower right.

Beyond the square stand the twin colonnaded palaces on the north side, with the temple front of the Madeleine closing the Rue Royale between them. The hill of Montmartre fills the horizon, its windmills turning against a soft, clouded sky, while the trees of the Tuileries and the Champs-Elysees frame the scene at left and right.

The lettering credits the drawing to Thomas Allom (1804 to 1872), the English architect and topographical artist whose views of France, Italy and the East were engraved in large numbers in the 1840s, and the engraving to J. Saddler. The title is given in English, French and German, a sign the plate was prepared for readers in more than one country. No publisher's line appears on this impression. The obelisk was raised in the square in 1836, so the view shows the place in its newly completed form.

This is a steel engraving, finely cut, with the sky laid in close ruled lines and the architecture drawn with crisp detail down to the lamp posts and the sculpture on the corner pavilions. The river in the foreground is rendered in smooth, darker tones that give the composition a firm base.

A broad landscape composition that suits a wide mat and a slim black or gilt frame, it would sit well in a study, a hallway or any room devoted to Paris.

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