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The Left Bank in the collections of the
Metropolitan Museum

Breaking news! A couple of days ago, 375,000 images of the Metropolitan Museum in New York were made available for anybody to use. Of course, we immediately looked to see what photos the museum had to offer of our area, the Left Bank.

And a fascinating exploration it was too! Come take a look at what we found…

Eugène Atget – Rue de la Montagne-Sainte-Geneviève

As soon as we learned that the Met had put 375,000 images online for unrestricted use, we just had to seek out some vintage photos of lour area, much of which hasn’t changed a great deal!

It’s quite fascinating to look at photos of the city from over 100 years ago and recognise many monuments and streets.

For example, the Pantheon and Jardin d Luxembourg are both pretty much the same today…

Édouard Baldus – Panthéon
Charles Marville – Rue du Haut-Pave (Pantheon in Distance)
Eugène Atget – Jardin du Luxembourg

The district around rue Mouffetard is still very much as seen here too…

Eugène Atget – Boutique de fruits et légumes Rue Mouffetard
Eugène Atget – Small Market in Front of the Church in Place Saint-Médard

However, there’s a high chance that the courtyard of 7 rue de Valence has gone, and this grocer’s on rue Maître-Albert has disappeared…

Eugène Atget – Cour, 7 rue de Valence
Eugène Atget – 15 rue Maître-Albert

And we are absolutely certain that rue Traversine no longer exists on the Left Bank, and the river Bièvre that used to run through part of the city has been completely covered over since 1912. ?

Charles Marville – rue Traversine
Charles Marville – La Bièvre

To take a look at the Met’s collection of photos of Paris yourself (the ones in the public domain), click here, or here to chekc out the entire collection.

Neurdein Frères – La Tour Eiffel – Détail du Campanile