Meryon

Meryon, Charles (1821-68), a great French etcher, was the son of an English physician and a French ballet-dancer. After serving in the French navy and sailing round the world, he settled down to an artistic career in Paris in 1846. Between 1850 and 1854 he produced his Stryge, Rue des Maurais Garcons, and Abside de Notre-Bame, works which are now held by connoisseurs to rank with those of Durer and Rembrandt. In his lifetime, however, Meryon's talents were not recognised; after recovering once, he had finally to be placed in the lunatic asylum at Charenton, where he died.