St. Paul, Alpes Maritimes

 

John Taylor Arms

  1887 - 1953 (biography)

1927  

etching 

7 1/2 x 11 1/2" platemark 

pencil, lower right 

259 

pencil dated 1927 after the signature; plate inscribed in lower right: St Paul, Alpes Maritimes / Arms 1927 

Fletcher 201; Arms 203; LOC 302; Print Club of Cleveland, illustrated on page 45; Library of Congress, illustrated on page 24 

fine, ivory laid 

ii/ii 

Commissioned by the Print Club of Cleveland, this being the 4th publication for 1927 

24586 

$600.00 

Saint-Paul-de-Vence is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France. It is a medieval walled town believed to have been settled in the 10th or 11th century. In the 15th century King Louis III made the village a royal town and the walls fortifying the town were built in the 16th century. In his etching, Arms gives us a sweeping view of the landscape crowned by Saint-Paul-de-Vence. The Esperon Tower, originally part of the medieval town walls, looms over the city. Usually church or cathedral towers dominate the skyline but this three-storey tower was part of the defense of the town and was used as a gunpowder store. The town has expanded beyond its walls. Arms juxtapositions modernity and medievalism by showing the utility lines running parallel to the walled road wending up the hillside.