French 18th Century "Optical Print" of the Steps of St Peter's Cathedral in Rome

This is an unusual and highly collectable 18th Century print of the vestibule and steps of St Peter's in Rome. This is an "Optical print" or "Vue d'Optique",(sometimes called a "Vue Perspective" as in this example), a special genre of 3D print designed to be shown in a Zograscope, or peep box, which by means of convex lens and mirrors, produced an illusion of depth. They were popular in the salons of the bourgoisie or homes of the nobility and people collected the prints and showed them like a slide show. Hawkers would also show them to the public for a small fee. They were widely produced in Europe, and Augsburg, Paris and Bassano became centres for them. They are usually coloured views of cities or buildings and the title is printed in several languages, repeated above the view in inverted form (which was then corrected by the lens for the viewer). This example was published by Jean Francois Daumont of Rue St Martin, Paris. Daumont was a well known publisher of optical prints, as well as wallpaper, cards etc in mid to late 18th century.