La morgue, Paris (The Mortuary)
1854
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
1854
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
La morgue, Paris (The Mortuary) is a 1854 ink by Charles Meryon, a Impressionism work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This black-and-white drawing shows a busy Paris street packed with tall buildings. People are scattered everywhere—some ride horses, others walk or sit on benches. A large wooden structure in the middle looks like a mortuary, with a crowd gathered around it. Boats float on the river below, and the whole scene feels crowded and alive. The artist used a sharp, precise style to show every tiny detail, like the texture of the buildings and the folds in people’s clothes. This kind of drawing is called an etching, where the artist scratches into a metal plate to create the image. Next, check out etching to see how artists like this made their marks.
