Above the Old Town, Amboise

Alonso Charles Webb, artist

1888–1975

Above the Old Town, Amboise, circa 1920s

Where object was made: France

Material/technique: etching; wove paper

Dimensions:
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 325 x 231 mm
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 12 13/16 x 9 1/8 in
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 473 x 318 mm
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 18 5/8 x 12 1/2 in
Mat Dimensions (Height x Width): 20 x 16 in

Credit line: Gift of Hal M. Davison, Class of 1949

Accession number: 1998.0625

Not on display

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Label texts

Exhibition Label:
"American Etchers Abroad, 1880-1939," Apr-2004, Reed Anderson
Webb’s vantage point in "Above the Old Town, Amboise" was the Château Amboise, which looms majestically above the quaint village. This palatial structure belonged to the Counts of Anjou and Berry before the region came under French rule in 1434. The building was heavily damaged by one of Napoleon’s politicians, Roger Duclos, who demolished two thirds of it in the early nineteenth century; bombs dropped by the German Luftwaffe during World War II destroyed much of what was left. Today only a few features remain that preserve the original Renaissance charm of the structure: the facade facing the river, the Tour de Nimes, and the Chapelle St. Hubert, which is believed to be the burial place of Leonardo da Vinci, who died in Clos Luce, a quarter of a mile away, in 1519.