Avenue du Bois de la Cambre. Ce qu'elle pourrait devenir. Nouveau projet pour l'arrangement de la grande promenade vers le Bois de la Cambre. Dédié aux habitants de la capitale.

Lithograph in colour, 44 x 60 cm (sl. browned, stronger at the outer edges).

Framed (few losses to frame).

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 honour 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 "en fit secrètement éditer une somptueuse vue perspective avec brochure explicative, destinées surtout à la presse et aux vitrines des magasins" (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.
Joined: Concours [hippique] de Tervueren. C. 1850. Lith., 36 x 47,3 cm visible, heightened (outer edges sl. browned). Framed. (2 pcs)