France, Cherbourg Vue prise au-dessus du Port Militaire

"Cherbourg Vue prise au-dessus du Port Militaire"

Cherbourg - view from above the military port.

Lithograph by Alfred Guesdon (1808-1876) after his own drawing.

Published in an album "Voyage Aerien en France".

Printed by Lemercier.

Paris, ca. 1850

The image is beautiful and in very good condition. The wide margins show traces of age and use. Especially along the edge of the lower margin we have obvious little tears and creases. However none of the described conditions of age and use reach anywhere near the image, which, indeed, is in very good condition.

Guesdon's specialty in lithography was the portraying of cities and places always from the bird's eye view. He travelled widely in Europe and published such views of Italy, Spain. He was the artist, who made the drawing, but lithographed many, just like this view of Cherbourg, himself.

Hand-colored and highlighted with gum arabicum half bird's eye view of the City of Cherbourg in Normandy. The harbor city, reminds many of us older folks of the romantic, heartrending movie and song "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg". Cherbourg was united and enlarged with the community of Octeville, so that nowadays the city's name is Cherbourg-Octeville.

Hand-coloring is careful and delicately applied and heightened with gum arabicum.

The focus of the print is the large and wide-spread military port complex bounded inland by military fortification. On the right we see the city of Cherbourg, also in a half bird's eye view with its pier and as it embraces the port of the Atlantic, protected by walls leaving only a narrow passage way into the port.

28,5 x 44,5 cm (ca. 11.2 x 17.5")