The Cordouan Lighthouse at the Mouth of the Gironde

The artwork

At the very top of the spire, in the centre, a plume of smoke rises: that point was not an ornament but the lighthouse's chimney. You receive it printed on handmade Amalfi paper, in a handmade frame.

• The Cordouan Lighthouse with its smoking spire, and its plan and section at the sides.
• In a beach house or a study, the tower at the centre lifts the whole wall.
• A gift for anyone who loves the Atlantic or collects lighthouses.

Cordouan stands on a rocky bank out at sea, at the mouth of the Gironde. It was designed by the Parisian architect Louis de Foix; work began in 1584 and, after de Foix died in 1602, François Beuscher finished it in 1611. The fire burned in the lantern and the smoke escaped through a hollow pyramid about six and a half metres tall: the spire you see. It is called the Versailles of the sea: inside there are a chapel with a domed vault and a King's Apartment, furnished in 1664, where it is said no king ever slept. Between 1782 and 1790 the engineer Joseph Teulère raised it by three storeys, and the spire disappeared. Since 2021 it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it is the last inhabited lighthouse in France.

This “Tour de Cordouan” was published by Nicolas de Fer in Paris in 1705, in his Atlas Curieux, and at the bottom right is the engraver's signature, A. Coquart. The drawing is older: it is the one by Claude Chastillon, the topographer whom Sully sent in 1606 to oversee the works. On either side, on two draped cloths, are the plan and the cross-section, with the spiral staircase and the domed rooms; around it, the rock with a stockier tower. The sheet reproduced here comes from the David Rumsey Map Collection.

In a house by the sea or in the study of someone who collects lighthouses, it is a gift for anyone who loves the Atlantic and the coast between Royan and the Médoc. On your wall, Louis de Foix's spire is still smoking.

Unique quality material

Print on handmade Amalfi paper
Sheet size: 29 x 42 cm (11.4 x 16.5 in)
With frame: 31 x 44 cm (12.2 x 17.3 in)
Material: artwork printed on very fine handmade Amalfi paper with deckled edges
Frame: dark brown with gold fillet, handmade, with glass