Gateway to the Abbey of St Martin of Auchi in Aumale (France) 1822

Louis Marie Jean Baptiste Athalin made this print of the Gateway to the Abbey of St Martin of Auchi in Aumale using etching. It captures the aesthetic and cultural interests of 19th-century France. Here, Athalin gives us the crumbling facade of a French abbey. We see figures in contemporary dress beside a dog in the lower-left corner. They seem to be entering the still-imposing gateway. The etching technique allows for a high level of detail, emphasizing the textures of the stone and the surrounding forest. This attention to architectural detail speaks to the 19th-century fascination with the medieval past, particularly its religious architecture. The ruined state of the abbey could be a comment on the decline of religious institutions in the wake of the French Revolution. The figures are dwarfed by the entrance, which highlights the grandeur and the potential cultural value of the abbey, even in its deteriorated state. Art historians might look at similar architectural prints of the time and archival documents, such as town plans, local histories, or institutional records, to reconstruct the historical context. Doing so would help us understand the print’s place in shaping public perceptions of French cultural heritage.