De Curte, Louis Lot n° 1002

[DE CURTE, Louis] "Avenue du Bois de la Cambre. What it could become. New project for the arrangement of the great promenade towards the Bois de la Cambre. Dedicated to the inhabitants of the capital". Brussels Simoneau & Toovey 1864 Lithograph in color, 44 x 60 cm. Excellent condition. Very nice and rare (not put on the market) bird's-eye view of a project designed by the Duke of Brabant, future King Leopold II, for the arrangement of this avenue, renamed "Avenue Louise" in May 1864, in honor of his mother Louise-Marie, the first Queen of the Belgians, and her eldest daughter Princess Louise. The drawing was made by the architect De Curte and the text (absent here) by the lawyer Considérant. The arrangement provides two "macadamised" (i.e. fine gravelled) alleys for carriages and horsemen, but gives priority to pedestrians (who are much more numerous) with a wide central alley decorated with flowerbeds, lawns, statues and fountains. The Duke "secretly published a sumptuous perspective view with an explanatory brochure, intended mainly for the press and store windows" (Duquenne, p. 80). He submitted his ideas to the City of Brussels, but there was already a project for the first section of the avenue. Leopold's project was therefore adopted for the second section. Ref. Duquenne, Xavier - L'avenue Louise à Bruxelles. Brux, 2007, pp. 79-81.