La salle des pas-perdus a l'ancien Palais de Justice (The antechamber of the Palais de Justice, Paris, Reproduction after the original by Jacques Anrouet Du Cerceau)

Art Historical Context

Step into the echoing grandeur of 16th-century Paris with *La salle des pas-perdus l'ancien Palais de Justice a meticulous 1855 etching by Charles Meryon, faithfully reproducing an original engraving by the Renaissance master Jacques Androuet du Cer. This print captures the vaulted antechamber—or "hall of lost steps"—of Paris's historic Palais de Justice, a Gothic jewel where litigants once paced in anticipation. Du Cerceau, a pioneering architect and engraver active in the 1500s, documented France's Renaissance-era buildings with unprecedented precision, making his works invaluable records of vanishing medieval splendor. Meryon, a 19th-century virtuoso of etching renowned for his hauntingly detailed views of Paris, revived this scene using a pewter plate to achieve extraordinary depth and texture at 12 x 17⅛ inches. His technique highlights intricate stone tracery, ribbed vaults, and shadowy recesses, blending Romantic fidelity to architecture with a subtle melancholy that defined his oeuvre. As part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints collection (acquired via the Rogers Fund in 1917), this piece celebrates the endurance of Parisian heritage amid urban transformation. This etching not only preserves a lost interior but also bridges centuries, inviting us to ponder the timeless drama of justice's halls.

About the Artist

Charles Meryon|Jacques Androuet Du Cerceau · 1821–1868

Charles Meryon, born on November 23, 1821, in Paris, was the illegitimate son of English physician Dr. Charles Lewis Meryon and dancer Pierre-Narcisse Chaspoux (stage name Narcisse Gentil) at the Paris Opéra. His half-sister Fanny, from his mother's prior relationship with Viscount Lowther, remained in contact after their mother's death in 1838. Raised partly outside Paris before attending Pension...