Rue de la Tonnellerie c. 19th century

Curator: Here we have Maxime Lalanne's "Rue de la Tonnellerie," currently residing at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: It's so delicate! Almost ghostly. Look at the way the buildings seem to fade into the sky. Curator: Indeed. Lalanne's etchings often capture that ephemeral quality of urban life. The street scene, though specific, becomes a symbol of fleeting moments in a changing city. Editor: The etching process itself contributes to that feeling. The way the acid bites into the metal plate… it’s a subtractive process, mirroring how urban spaces are constantly eroded and rebuilt. And the cooper's trade, suggested by the street's name, now likely displaced. Curator: An insightful observation! The cooper, the barrel maker... their trade, their labor, is practically invisible in this print, yet the name is a reminder of a past way of life. Editor: It really makes you think about the layers of history etched—literally—into a place. Curator: For me, it speaks to how our collective memory reshapes and imbues meaning into even the most ordinary streets.