Sotheby’s will sell on November 8 in Paris one of the first daguerreotype views of Notre-Dame de Parismade in 1840 by Vincent Chevalier just one year after the public announcement by François Arago of the discovery of the photograph (estimate: €50,000-70,000).
Preserved for more than twenty years in the same collection, this photograph was taken before the restoration of Notre-Dame Cathedral began in 1844, and the construction of the new spire by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc. The work, in an excellent state of preservation, presents a gray tint typical of the first daguerreotypes and a wealth of intact details.
Only two other comparable plates are known today. The first belongs to the collections of the History of Science Museum in Oxford, and the second, classified as a National Treasure, is kept in private hands. This daguerreotype on sale this fall in Paris is a unique opportunity to acquire one of the oldest photographic views of Notre-Dame Cathedral.
Optical engineer from a family of opticians, Vincent Chevalier is one of the pioneers of photography. He has taken several remarkable shots of Parisian monuments.
SOTHEBY’S
PHOTOGRAPHS
PARIS, 8 NOVEMBER 2019
