Antique Views
Vue Perspective du Palais et des Bains, des anciens Rois mores, a Grenade
HUQUIER, Jacques-Gabriel (publisher) · Paris · Huquier fils · Mid-18th century
A vue d'optique of the Alhambra in Granada, the palace and baths of the Moorish kings, published by Huquier in Paris, in contemporary colour.
FM-0294
€ 350
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Key Properties
Subject: Alhambra, Granada
Technique: Etching, contemporary hand colour
Size: 250 x 392 mm, with margins
Type: Vue d'optique
Condition
Good condition, a few small tears in the margins (according to the seller).
References & Bibliography
Blake, E. C., 'Zograscopes, Virtual Reality, and the Mapping of Polite Society in Eighteenth-Century England', in: Gitelman & Pingree (eds.), New Media, 1740-1915 (2003).
Füsslin, G. et al., Der Guckkasten: Einblick, Durchblick, Ausblick (1995).
Description
A view into a courtyard of the Alhambra, with its long pool and fountain, framed by arches and enlivened with visitors in eighteenth-century dress.
Jacques-Gabriel Huquier (1730-1805), known as Huquier fils, was one of the Paris publishers of vues d'optique, the brightly coloured perspective views made to be seen through an optical viewer or zograscope. The mirror or lens of the viewer gave the image depth and reversed it, which is why the title is also engraved back to front above the image. Views of the great cities of Europe and the world were a popular entertainment in the second half of the eighteenth century, and Huquier issued a long series from his shop in the rue Saint-Jacques, above the rue des Mathurins.
Historical Significance
An eighteenth-century European image of the Alhambra, made for the optical viewer that brought distant places into the drawing rooms of Paris and London.