Louis-Émile Durandelle (1839-1917) Photographic... Lot 5

Louis-Émile Durandelle (1839-1917) Photographic studies of Mont-Saint-Michel commissioned by Édouard Corroyer for restoration work, 1872-1880. General view. North tower & bastion. Rampart. South fortification. Ruins of the Tour Claudine (entrance to the abbey). Bridge in the church courtyard. Cloister (north gallery). Cloister area and large west gable of the Dormitory. Abbey buildings (seen from the south-east ramparts). Front of the Merveille buildings (west). North transept and cloister. Abbey buildings (seen from the eastern ramparts). Church apse. General view (rocks to the northeast). Wonder. Knights' hall. Wonder. Dormitory. Promenade under the large platform to the west. Church. Nave. Second gate on boulevard site. Third king's gate. Rue du château. Saint-Aubert chapel. Entrance to the town. Restoration of the east gallery framework and view of the west facade of the Merveille. Reproductions of plans and sections. Reproduction of drawings by Édouard Corroyer. Model of the Merveille by Théodore Fouché. In-folio album, accompanied by a page titled "Durandelle Photographe - Faubourg Montmartre", comprising 100 albumen prints from collodion glass negatives, mounted on sheets. Some handwritten annotations. Some negative numbers. Sizes: 18 x 24 to 31 x 48 cm In 1872, like Charles Garnier before him, architect Édouard Corroyer commissioned photographer Louis-Émile Durandelle to carry out a preliminary study for the restoration of Mont-Saint-Michel, and to document the various stages of the work. Both a medium and a witness to creation, photography was also a powerful communication and promotional tool that architects seized upon during this period. An ardent defender of the medium, Édouard Corroyer stated in 1883: "This way of presenting architectural works is the only good and practical one, because the photographic cliché and print become the sanction of the work".