View of Madrid — Daumont

A panoramic eighteenth-century hand-coloured optical print of Madrid, designed for immersive viewing through a zograscope.

Original French title: Vue Générale de MADRID ville Capitale du Royaume d'Espagne. Published by Jean-François Daumont, Paris; also issued by Henry Overton and Robert Sayer, London. Dated 1752.

This print is a fine example of the vue d'optique genre, popular across Europe in the eighteenth century. These hand-coloured prints were viewed through optical devices to create a striking illusion of three-dimensional depth, offering armchair travellers vivid panoramas of distant cities.

Hand-coloured copperplate engraving. Sheet size approximately 32.0 × 49 cm. Good condition, with some minor creasing and toning consistent with age.