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TITLE:
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Le Stryge
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WORK DATE:
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1853
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CATEGORY:
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Prints
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MATERIALS:
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Etching
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SIZE:
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h: 17 x w: 13.3 cm / h: 6.7 x w: 5.2 in
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DESCRIPTION:
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From Eaux-Fortes sur Paris. Delteil/Wright 23 v/viii. Fine, clean-wiped impression, before the verses, in black ink on laid paper with a partial watermark of HP (Hudelist or Hallines) and good margins. The historical demarcation between old Paris, of medieval buildings and narrow alleys, and Baron Haussmann’s new Paris, of broad boulevards and open skies, is marked in the graphic arts by two men: Charles Meryon, who attempted to capture the old before it was lost; and Maxime Lalanne, who was equally captivated by medieval origins but also documented the demolitions of change. Meryon’s Stryge (vampire) is among the most famous of all prints of Paris. The clutter of houses forms the backdrop for an encounter between the medieval Tour St. Jacques and the grinning imp on the tower of Notre Dame, with ominous black birds filling the sky. As often with Meryon, the precise scene never existed in reality, for the tower is, in reality, smaller, farther away and more hidden. And, alas for Meryon, the gargoyle he chose, expressive as it is, and famous as it is, is not medieval but a nineteenth-century addition by the architect Viollet-le-Duc. How fascinating to have such a masterpiece based on a topographical fib and a mistaken identity!
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