La Rue St Denis 1802

This watercolor, "La Rue St. Denis" was painted by Thomas Girtin, the accomplished English watercolorist, around the turn of the nineteenth century. The painting captures a bustling street scene in Paris and through Girtin's rendering of the architecture and the people, we gain insight into the social fabric of the city at this time. The Rue St. Denis, a major thoroughfare, is lined with tall buildings that speak to the urban density, and in the foreground, we see people from various walks of life going about their day, rendered with a keen eye for detail. The buildings loom, and the archway in the distance centers our attention. What were the political and economic forces shaping Paris at this moment? France had just undergone a revolution and was trying to build a new social order. Girtin made several visits to Paris in the years following the Peace of Amiens in 1802, suggesting that there was a taste for this kind of imagery in Britain at this time. To fully appreciate this work, one needs to consider the history of the period and the artist's own background, and to trace how cultural exchange works through the circulation of images.