La Ste. Chapelle, Paris, Thomas Shotter Boys, color lithograph, 15 x 12 in. (38 x 29). Link is to the image page on Wikimedia Commons.
Thomas Shotter Boys (1803–1874) was known for his urban and architectural subjects, both in watercolor and in lighographs. Here, in a color lithograph, he highlights the soaring 50 foot high gothic windows of the chapel and its dramatic buttresses.
There is a wonderful contrast between the darker stone of the main structure and the white stone that is apparently either being built or repaired. Look at the subtle change in value between the top of the walls and the base, and the intermediate values of the neighboring building. It’s a beautiful use of value relationships.
The two figures and their donkey to the right (made noticable by their touches of red, echoing the legs of the hoist) give the scene its human scale, emphasizing the monumentality of the structure. Harder to see in this reproduction, but still visible, is the delicate latticework of the stained glass.
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