Hotel De Ville, Ruins Of The Paris Commune Paul Loubere C.1871

Vintage albumen print signed and captioned in the plate, mounted on cardboard. Hotel de Ville, Ruins of the Paris Commune by Paul LOUBERE (active 1860-1890). The Hotel de Ville in Paris was completely burned down and was rebuilt in 1882. The shot from the left bank in front of the Pont d'Arcole allows us to gauge the damage: in fact, only a few sections of the facade remain. During the bloody week of the Commune (May 21 to 28, 1871) many public buildings were burned down. For the first time, a major event in the history of France was covered by photographers who took to the streets to capture the major moments of the Paris Commune. Photography made it possible to preserve the reality of these moments, traces of which would quickly be erased by the nascent Third Republic. The ruins were a beautiful subject for these photographers. Devastated Paris recalls the beauty of ancient ruins: we photograph the charred walls of the palaces of the Empire as we photograph the archaeological remains of Rome, Naples or Athens. https://www.lavalisearlesienne.com/product-page/copie-de-grenier-d-abondance-ruine-de-la-commune-de-paris-paul-louber