Virgin Chapel, Saint Denis Abbey, Antique Engraving after Allom, circa 1845

An interior view of the Chapel of the Virgin in the abbey church of Saint-Denis, north of Paris. Massive round columns with carved foliage capitals carry ribbed vaults painted with a pattern of small flowers, and the arches are edged with zigzag and chevron ornament. Light falls in from the tall windows behind the altar, striking the checkered stone floor.

The chapel is full of worshippers. Women in shawls and veils kneel in prayer, some at a low railing before the altar, others alone in the open floor; a mother leads a child along the paneled wall at left. At right, a carved figure of a haloed saint stands in a decorated niche beside a small altar, and through the arcades the eye travels to a priest at the altar in the distance.

The lettering credits the drawing to Thomas Allom and the engraving to J.B. Allen, with the title in English, French and German and the imprint of Fisher, Son and Co., London and Paris. Fisher issued Allom's trilingual French views in France Illustrated in the 1840s. Saint-Denis, the burial church of the kings of France, is one of the founding monuments of Gothic architecture.

This steel engraving makes the most of its subject: the patterned vaults, the play of light and shade among the columns and the folds of the kneeling women's dresses are all rendered in very fine line.

An atmospheric choice for a quiet reading corner or a collection of church interiors, it looks best with a wide mat that lets the dark tones breathe.

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