Views Of The Ports Of France According To Claude Joseph Vernet

VERNET Claude Joseph (after) Avignon 1714-1789 Paris Views of the Ports of France. Etching and chisel. H560xW775mm approximately each. Plates in good condition, visible but skilful restoration marks, small scattered stains without discomfort to the subject, on watermarked laid paper (eagle). The realization of the series of Views of the ports of France by Joseph Vernet, between 1753 and 1765, is the fruit of a royal commission, the most ambitious of the reign of Louis XV. Its objective is to report on the diversity of the country's maritime activities, to show that the port cities were the scene of flourishing trade, shipbuilding and armaments marking the rebirth of the Royal Navy under Louis XV, in these times of commercial, military and colonial rivalry with England for control of the ocean. Vernet was asked to represent on each painting, in the foreground, the activities specific to the region. These paintings are therefore true testimonies of life in the ports 250 years ago, and make him one of the greatest painters of the navy. The distribution of these works was ensured from 1758 by a series of prints engraved by Charles Nicolas Cochin (1715-1790) and Jacques Philippe Le Bas (1707-1783). Complete series comprising 16 prints with the ports of Toulon, Marseille, Bandol, Antibes, Cette, Bordeaux, Bayonne, Rochefort, La Rochelle, Dieppe and Le Havre; some depicted multiple times. Do not hesitate to ask for more information or photos. Possibility of buying by the piece.