Pair Of Engravings After Demachy And Engraved By Descourtis - Late 18th Century.

Two animated views of ports in Paris at the end of the 18th century.

For one: View of the Porte Saint Bernard, next to the Château de la Tournelle, today's Quai de la Tournelle. In the foreground, on the Seine, the arrival of a driftwood convoy. To the right, the Ile Saint-Louis and, in the background, Notre-Dame de Paris.

For the other: Port Saint-Paul as seen from the current end of rue du Fauconnier. From left to right: the Convent des Célestins with a large pile of sandstone paving stones from Fontainebleau; the Pont Gramont bridge serves the Ile Louviers, now part of the riverbank and bounded by the Quai des Célestins, Quai Henri IV and Boulevard Morland. Here you can see piles of driftwood being dried. In the background, the dome of the Chapelle Saint-Louis de la Salpétrière.

Charles Claude Flahaut de La Billarderie, comte d'Angiviller( 1730 - 1809 ), to whom these works were dedicated, was Director of Arts under Louis XVI and founder of the Louvre museum.

Pierre-Antoine Demachy : 1723 - 1807, member of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. Numerous works in the Musée Carnavalet.

Charles-Melchior Descourtis : 1752 - 1819, student of Janinet. Frequent collaborator with Demachy.

Artists' signatures on the lower left beams of each engraving.

Printer: Gayant le Jeune.

Size when viewed: 63 cm x 48 cm

Size when framed: 75 cm x 60 cm