Rue Saint-Jacques (fifth arrondissement)

Street and shop signs were a common feature of Old Paris. Marville often focused on those that referred to the world of picture making. In this photograph, the high walls of buildings slated for demolition are plastered with peeling posters and fading painted advertisements featuring the words peinture (painting), collage de papiers (paper collages), estampe (prints), and, in the middle of it all, imagerie (imagery). This is, in fact, the historical heart of the print publishing district, not far from where Marville got his start as an artist.