La Cité is a reproduction of the Turgot Map of Paris, originally published in 1739. Created by Louis Bretez, a member of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, the map is elaborately rendered in “false perspective,” or bird’s eye point of view. Bretez labored over the extraordinarily detailed plan for years, meticulously documenting each park, and window in the metropolis. The mural is an exacting record of 18th century Paris prior to Baron Haussman’s redesign of the city as well as a remarkable artwork in its own right. Schumacher’s La Cité became part of the Cooper-Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum’s permanent collection in 1992.
