View of the Village of Chaillot from the Pont de la Concorde: pl.17 Possibly 1802

Thomas Girtin made this aquatint, “View of the Village of Chaillot from the Pont de la Concorde,” during his stay in Paris in 1802. It captures a wide view of Paris along the river Seine. The Pont de la Concorde, in the foreground, had just been completed a few years earlier, in 1791. It was made partially from the stones of the demolished Bastille prison. The prison had been stormed by revolutionaries in 1789, an event which signaled the beginning of the French Revolution. The construction of the bridge was meant to signal the forging of a new, more enlightened society. But it took place during a period of intense social upheaval and political transformation. It is interesting to note that Girtin chose to focus on the everyday life of the city, with working people going about their business. The historian would want to investigate these events through textual and visual sources to better understand the society in which Girtin lived, and how its institutions shaped his art.