Gezicht op de Boulevard des Italiens te Parijs 1808 - 1849

Jean Baptiste van Marcke made this print, titled “Gezicht op de Boulevard des Italiens te Parijs”, in the early nineteenth century. It invites us to consider the role of the Parisian boulevard as a stage for social life. Here, Van Marcke depicts a lively scene along the Boulevard des Italiens. We see men in top hats and women in bonnets strolling and conversing, their attire suggesting a prosperous middle class. The architecture and carefully planted trees that line the boulevard create a sense of ordered elegance typical of Parisian urban planning at the time. It was a space designed to foster social interaction but also to display the city’s, and therefore the nation’s, wealth and sophistication. The print is a cultural artifact that reflects the values and aspirations of a particular society. To understand it better, we might turn to urban histories and studies of print culture to reveal the complex relationship between art, society, and the institutions that shape them.