''Vue d'optique'' (French), ''vue perspective'' or perspective view refers to a genre of
etching
Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...
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
Linear or point-projection perspective (from la, perspicere 'to see through') is one of two types of 3D projection, graphical projection perspective in the graphic arts; the other is parallel projection. Linear perspective is an approximate r ...
(for example, diagonal lines converging at a horizon)
*Subject matter appealing to armchair travelers: shipping, cities, palaces, gardens, architecture.
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.
[ 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
References
{{Reflist
Etching