Prints and Authors in the Time of Manet

View of Paris from Nôtre Dame

Albumen print, 1860–65
Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey, 1990.4

This view is taken either from a tower of the cathedral of Nôtre-Dame, or from the rooftop. The main object of the composition is the spire, which was a recent addition to the cathedral. The spire was designed by Viollet-le-Duc, who was the architect in charge of the Nôtre-Dame renovations, completed in the late 1850s. Beyond the spire, one has an aerial view of the Île Saint-Louis and the eastern section of Paris.