MAX BERTHELIN (1811-77)
Illuminations at the Hôtel de Ville, 23 August 1855
dated 1855Pencil, watercolour and bodycolour | 31.6 x 45.5 cm (whole object) | RCIN 920073
Victoria and Albert were guests of honour at a ball hosted by the prefect of the Seine, Baron Haussmann, on 23 August. Almost 8,000 guests attended, though 50,000 requests for invitations were received. The magnificently illuminated façade of the Hôtel de Ville is on the left, with the cathedral of Notre-Dame visible in the distance beyond the line of carriages arriving at the ball.