Cour du Palais de Venise, et Eglise Sant Marc... / Cortile di Palazzo di Venezia Colla Chiesa di San Marco

One of France's most gifted topographical artists of the 19th century, Philippe Benoist was both a master lithographer and painter. He began his career in Paris studying and apprenticing under the most influential pioneer of early photography, Louis Daguerre. By 1836, however, Philippe Benoist had turned entirely to art and was exhibiting his views at the Paris Salons and continued to do so until1879. As an original lithographic artist, Philippe Benoist specialized in exterior and interior views of many famous buildings. These were usually published in sets, such as Monuments du Moyen Age, L'Italie Monumentale et Artistique and Vues de Paris, published in 1881. It represents one of the artist's finest undertakings as each lithograph was printed in subtle colors using a number of tint stones. Finally, the figures and some of the foreground objects were then hand-colored by commissioned artists. The end result produced by these large and elaborate lithographs, thus more than justifies Philippe Benoist's position as one of the greatest artists of interior views and monumental scenes of his time.