vue d'optique
{{Short description|Genre of etching}}
{{More citations needed|date=April 2023}}
Vue d'optique (French), vue perspective or perspective view refers to a genre of etching popular during the second half of the 18th century and into the 19th. Vues d'optique were specifically developed to provide the illusion of depth when viewed through a zograscope, also known as an "optical diagonal machine" or viewers with similar functions.
Characteristics
- Reversed type in some or all of the text, for viewing through a mirrored apparatus
- Bright hand-coloring
- Scenes chosen for their strong linear perspective (for example, diagonal lines converging at a horizon)
- Subject matter appealing to armchair travelers: shipping, cities, palaces, gardens, architecture.{{cite web|last=Kaldenbach|first=Kees|title=Perspective Views|url=http://kalden.home.xs4all.nl/auth/perspectiveviews.htm|accessdate=27 Feb 2013}} Originally published in Print Quarterly (June 1985)
History
Optical viewers were generally popular with well-to-do European families in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Perspective views were produced in London, Paris, Augsburg and several other cities.{{cite web|last=Philographikon|title="Vue d'Optique" or "Perspective View"|url=http://www.philographikon.com/vuedoptique.html|accessdate=27 Feb 2013}}{{cite web|last=Kaldenbach|first=Kees|title=Perspective Views|url=http://kalden.home.xs4all.nl/auth/perspectiveviews.htm|accessdate=27 Feb 2013}} Originally published in Print Quarterly (June 1985)
Gallery
File:Vue d'optique 001.jpg|Vue d'optique of Havre de Grace Port of Paris printed in Germany ca. 1800.
File:Vue d'optique 002.jpg|Vue d'optique of the Bridge of La Concorde, Printed in Paris
File:Vue d'optique 003.jpg|Vue d'optique of the Hotel Royal des Invallides, printed in Paris
File:Vue d'optique 004.jpg|Vue d'optique of Rome, printed in Paris
File:Vue d'optique 008.jpg|Vue d'optique of the Hotel de Ville in Amsterdam, printed in England