View from a Window of the Boulevard de la Madeleine

(Alexandre-Hyacinthe Dunouy)

The medieval church of the Madeleine sat in the heart of an area that began to be redeveloped in the late seventeenth century. The Boulevard de la Madeleine itself was built in 1680, commencing at the end of the rue Royale near the old church. It was decided to pull the church down at the end of the eighteenth century but once demolition was completed it proved hard finding the funds to build a replacement. Work did not begin on the new building until 1806, when Napoleon decided to construct a classical style temple (under the direction of the architect Pierre-Alexandre Vignon), to celebrate the achievements of the grande-armée. Following the Restoration it was decided that the still uncompleted building would become a Church once again, and it was finally consecrated in 1842.[1]

Dunouy has noted on the reverse of the painting that this view is taken from a window on the boulevard looking towards M(ontmartre). The windmills of this famous butte, can be seen against the horizon, as can the tower of a Church, the precursor of Sacré Coeur (this great church was completed in 1919) but the hill seems not yet to have been enveloped by the expanding capital. Paris was the largest city in Europe (followed by Naples, and then London) but in the early nineteenth century it was still largely confined within the plain below the hills that surround it. Below the artist’s window can be seen the bare foundations of the church, overgrown after being left for some years. In the immediate foreground the whitewashed sides and roofs of three town houses are clearly delineated; beyond the church foundations can be seen the rooftops of Paris extending into the distance. This is evidence that the painting was done before Vignon began his alterations, and that it must be dated to between 1798 and 1805 when Dunouy was known to have been in France.

In choosing this unusual prospect of the city, Dunouy follows the example of many artists before and since who painted the views from their windows. Similar scenes in Naples and Rome by Thomas Jones, François Granet and Simon Denis were included in the landmark exhibition, In the Light of Italy in which a view of rooftops in Naples reasonably attributed to (and almost certainly by) Dunouy was also exhibited. [2] NOTES

[1] The composer Camille Saint-Saens was appointed organist of the Madeleine in 1857 and composed some of his greatest works while employed there.
[2]Washington, National Gallery of Art, 26th May-2nd September 1996; New York, Brooklyn Museum ,11th October 1996-12th January 1997 and St.Louis, Saint Louis Art Museum, 21st February-18th May 1997. In the Light of Italy: Corot and Early Open-Air Painting, No.5.

Matthiesen Gallery & stair Sainty Matthiesen, ‘The Gallic Prospect’. 1999