This spectacular bird’s eye view or plan of Paris of early 18th century, popularly known as Plan Turgot (by the name of the Paris prévôt des marchands who ordered it), is probably the most famous plan of Paris, or any other city for that matter, ever made. It was the result of several years of the painstaking drawing of every street, square and building of Paris by draughtsman named Louis Bretez. He ultimately transformed (with the help of several very skilful engravers) myriads of his drawings into this magnificent and huge printed “mural” made up of 20 separate prints measuring each about 55 by 85 cm. When assembled all together they take so much space that they would not fit on a wall of an average size home.
In fact, it is more than a record or reflection of what Paris was like at about 1734-1736. It is a somewhat embellished, purified and idealized vision of the city, cleared of anything that could offend the eye or the nose (if images could smell) of the viewer, with streets broader than they were in reality. Indeed, a rather sanitised image of the city, which, as much as it was renowned for its beaty, was also known to be rather crowed, dirty and smelly even for the contemporaneous travellers.
As with most of other prints of this period, it was not really designed to be displayed on the wall, framed or not. Rather, it was assembled in an oversize book with a luxurious leather binding, to be enjoyed one by one, close up. An unknown number of specimens survive, occasionally surfacing at public auctions. I was present myself at an auction in Paris around 2012 when one specimen was sold for well over 100,000 euros (a record mentioned even in le Figaro, which does not routinely report on results of public auctions). Fortunately, my copy, also bought at an auction in Paris, a slightly later reprint, came at a more reasonable price.
The prints of the Plan Turgot are not yet available for purchase. If you are interested in buying them, please e-mail us at info@bucentaure.com or subscribe to our Newsletter, which will inform you when it will become available.
