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The image depicts a street scene with an old building featuring a steep, thatched roof running diagonally across. The horizon is not visible, but chimneys and rooftops provide upward movement. The style uses fine, precise lines typical of etching capturing architectural details and textures. The color palette is sepia tones. Barrels and goods are displayed in the foreground with a seated shopkeeper. Figures are engaged in conversation further down the street, leading the eye toward rooftops and smoke rising from a chimney under a sky with dispersed cloud patterns.
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The image depicts a street scene with an old building featuring a steep, thatched roof running diagonally across. The horizon is not visible, but chimneys and rooftops provide upward movement. The style uses fine, precise lines typical of etching capturing architectural details and textures. The color palette is sepia tones. Barrels and goods are displayed in the foreground with a seated shopkeeper. Figures are engaged in conversation further down the street, leading the eye toward rooftops and smoke rising from a chimney under a sky with dispersed cloud patterns.

National Gallery of Art · Print

Ancienne habitation à Bourges, dite "La Maison du Musicien" (An Old House at Bourges, Sometimes Called the "Musician's House")

Charles Meryon

Date
1860
Medium
etching with graphite additions on wove Japanese paper
Dimensions
plate: 22.8 × 13.4 cm (9 × 5 1/4 in.) sheet: 29.1 × 17.6 cm (11 7/16 × 6 15/16 in.)
Classification
Print
Accession number
1943.3.6212
Credit line
Rosenwald Collection
Time span
1851 to 1875
Department
CG-E
Original NGA record Wikidata

Subjects and terms

  • French
  • Street
  • House
  • Figures
  • Cloud
  • Smoke
Provenance

Jules Niel [19th century], Paris; Alphonse Wyatt Thibaudeau [1840-1892], (Lugt 2412), London; Bernard B. MacGeorge [1845-1924], Glasgow, (Lugt 394); Albert W. Scholle [1860-1917], New York City, (Lugt 2923a); Clendenin J. Ryan [1881-1939], New York City; (sale, Parke-Bernet Galleries Inc., New York, 18 January 1940, lot 189); Lessing J. Rosenwald [1891-1979], Jenkintown, PA; gift to NGA, 1943.

Inscription

Not signed. Not dated. "1re etat epreuve naturelle" lower left margin, graphite, artist's hand. "LD 56I" lower left margin, graphite, unknown hand. "71" lower right margin, graphite, unknown hand. "B 59" [erased] lower right margin, graphite, unknown hand. Verso: none.

Marks

"LRJ" verso, black stamped ink, (Lugt 1760b). (Albert W. Scholle collector's stamp) verso, black stamped ink, (Lugt 2923a).

Watermarks

None.

NGA object ID 9144. Collection metadata is reproduced under CC0. This work is included because its NGA published-image record is marked open access; visitors should recheck the source record before substantial reuse.