Hand-colored vue d'optique engraving of a scene in a grand Venetian concert hall. While instrumentalists play on a distant raised platform, audience members in bright blue, red, and yellow dress listen from the balcony and edges of the circular room. Published in Paris "chez Hocquart, rue St. Jacques no. 64," ca. 1775. The title is printed at the foot and in mirror-image at the head. The full sheet mounted to heavy board with considerable soiling and overall wear, edge wear, and some losses at the left edge; however, still a striking image in good condition. 18 x 12.5 inches (45.5 x 32 cm).

The present image appears to be inspired by a ca. 1770 engraving, "Vüe perspective de la nouvelle salle de concert de Venise," of which WorldCat records 5 copies. The concert hall pictured may be the Teatro San Benedetto, a hall that was particularly prominent in the operatic life of the city in the 18th and early 19th centuries, until the construction of La Fenice in 1792. Vue d'optique or perspective view refers to a genre of etching popular during the second half of the 18th century and into the 19th. Vues d'optique were specifically developed to provide the illusion of depth when viewed through a zograscope, also known as an "optical diagonal machine" or viewers with similar functions.