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The Clock Tower

ca. 1852
Not on view
Meryon was the first nineteenth-century French etcher to make the Parisian cityscape his primary focus. This is one of several preparatory drawings that he made for an etching of the same title, as part of his suite of twenty-two prints entitled "Eaux-fortes sur Paris" (Etchings on Paris). With a precise graphite line, Meryon recorded the main architectural features of the Palais de Justice with its clock tower as well as the Conciergerie behind; both buildings are part of the complex of law courts at the center of Paris. He omitted anecdotal details, but the inscription at the top of the sheet describes the barge that later appeared in the etching.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Clock Tower
  • Artist: Charles Meryon (French, 1821–1868)
  • Date: ca. 1852
  • Medium: Graphite with red chalk on laid paper (a narrow strip added at right)
  • Dimensions: 14 1/2 x 10 3/8 in. (36.8 x 26.4 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1919
  • Object Number: 19.41
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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The Mortuary, Paris (La Morgue), Charles Meryon French, Etching and drypoint, third state of seven
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Ceramic Horn, Glazed pottery, French
Ceramic Horn
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Study of Eleven Heads, Jacques de Gheyn II Netherlandish, Pen and three shades of brown ink with black chalk on laid paper; framing lines in pen and brown ink and graphite
Study of Eleven Heads
Jacques de Gheyn II
late 16th–early 17th century
Native Barns and Huts at Akaroa, Banks Peninsula, 1845, from "The Voyage to New Zealand (1842–46)", Charles Meryon French, Etching
Native Barns and Huts at Akaroa, Banks Peninsula, 1845, from "The Voyage to New Zealand (1842–46)"
Charles Meryon
1860
Osage Warrior, Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin French, Watercolor and graphite on off-white wove paper, American
Osage Warrior
Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin
1805–7

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