Charles Marville - Rue de la Ferronnerie - 1984.24 - Cleveland Museum of Art

This Marville photograph is from his series on the old sections of Paris taken during the 1860s before Napoleon III and Baron Haussmann cut great boulevards through them. Marville achieved documentary perfection with precise rendering of materials, exact perspective, interesting forms, and luminous shadows. He preferred working on overcast, rainy days when diffused light and glistening cobblestones yielded maximum tonal range and detail. This beautiful photograph brings a quiet dignity to the old street.