19th century Paris on view at NY's Metropolitan MuseumNew York's Metropolitan Museum of Art this week unveils a exhibit revealing scores of rare photos of Paris taken during the reign of Napoleon III (1852-1870) -- the earliest days of the then-novel art form. The exhibit, which opens Tuesday and runs through September 2nd, offers an unparalleled glimpse at the city's famed boulevards, building facades and monuments at the time they were being built and which define the Parisian cityscape (company) CityScape - A re-seller of Internet connections to the PIPEX backbone. E-Mail: <sales@cityscape.co.uk>. Address: CityScape Internet Services, 59 Wycliffe Rd., Cambridge, CB1 3JE, England. Telephone: +44 (1223) 566 950. today. The show depicts "the changing shape of Paris during the Second Empire, when the city's narrow streets and medieval buildings gave way to the broad boulevards and grand public works public works pl.n. Construction projects, such as highways or dams, financed by public funds and constructed by a government for the benefit or use of the general public. Noun 1. that still define the urban landscape of the French capital," the Met said in a statement. The exhibit draws entirely from the Metropolitan's expansive photo collection, and include works in other media from various departments of The Met, organizers said. The photos, taken by 19th century trailblazers considered pioneers photography, offer a compelling look at the Haussmann Renovations commissioned by Napoleon III and led by the Seine prefect prefect or praefect (both: prē`fĕkt), in ancient Rome, various military and civil officers. Under the empire some prefects were very important. The Praetorian prefects (first appointed 2 B.C. , Baron Georges-Eugene Haussmann. His urbanization project between 1852 and 1870 was one of the most massive and transformative that any city has ever undergone. "You can compare Haussmann to (famed urban planner An Urban planner is a professional who works in the field of urban planning for the purpose of public health and safety in an urban setting. They work with local governments or private property owners (often with land developers) to formulate plans for the short- and long-term ) Robert Moses in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of in the middle of the 20th century -- they have the same kind of disregard for what they destroy," said Met curator Malcolm Daniel. "These exhibitions are very instructive, in a country where nobody knows who Napoleon III was but everyone knows and loves Paris," Daniel said. The collection, which comprises scores of photos from the museum's own holdings is the most extensive outside of France of the city during the time period in question. The exhibit includes portraits of imperial family, photographed by Gustave Le Gray Gustave Le Gray (1820–1884) is known as the most important French photographer of the nineteenth century because of his technical innovations in the still new medium of photography, his role as the teacher of other noted photographers, and the extraordinary imagination he and Benjamin Delessert and views of old Paris by Charles Marville. It also features photographs of the New Louvre Louvre (l  `vrə), foremost French museum of art, located in Paris. The building was a royal fortress and palace built by Philip II in the late 12th cent. by Edouard Baldus and of the Opera by Delmaet and Durandelle.
Also on view are historic scenes of the destruction of Paris and nearby Saint-Cloud during the Paris Commune, which saw the working class take the reins of power in the city. 
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