The engraver Michel-Francois Damame-Demartrais depicted Ile de la Cité in Paris looking from South-East from Tournelle embankment. On the engraving we can see the buildings of the Archiepiscopacy and the catholic cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris, on which many architects worked at different times (Jehan de Chelles, Pierre de Montreuil and others). Ile de la Cité is one of the most ancient districts in Paris; it looks like a fortress sailing in the waters. The compact planning of the island is clearly visible on this sheet: the old hospital building Hôtel-Dieu, the royal palace, the market, small churches and houses. Later, in the middle of the 19th century, during the urban redevelopment exercise baron Haussmann commissioned bringing down everything between the palace and the cathedral and constructing the buildings of police, court martial and three и through streets verging into bridges.

The engraver depicted Notre-Dame the way it looked after the Great French Revolution: in 1789 the spire of the 13th century, the marigold windows of the nave made of stained glass, sculptures and statues were demolished. In 1841, Eugèn Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc began the restoration and redevelopment of the cathedral, this work lasted for 23 years.

Archiepiscopacy was performed using the aquatint technique, so it looks like an ink drawing. This technique was seldom used alone; more often it was combined with aquafortis (etching). At first the craftsman had to prepare the engraving: he covered a metal plate with acid-proof lacquer, then plotted the drawing with a needle, and then submerged the plate into acidic solution. After treating the plate with a drawing in such a way, he applied fine powder of white resin and heated it. The powder particles melted and their drops stuck to the plate leaving the finest intervals in between. Then the craftsman submerged the plate into acidic solution again, the acid filled those intervals and в etched them again. Even granular background appeared on the engraving giving the graduated tones. Before applying the white resin powder, the craftsman could close certain areas of the drawing with the lacquer to their treatment with the acid. The entire process could be repeated up to 20 times before the desired image appeared. The graduation and the texture depended on the quality and quantity of the white resin, and also on the time the plate spent in the acid solution.

The graphic artist and the engraver Michel-Francois Damame-Demartrais was born in Paris. He studied in the studio of Jacques-Louis David, and in early 19th century exhibited his pieces in the Paris Salon. He often travelled to Moscow and to Saint-Petersburg and stayed there for long. In 1813, he created an atlas of 30 engravings with the Views of Main Russian Cities, Costumes and Occupations of Citizens of Russian Empire. Another engraving of his is also connected with Russia — View of Big Pond in Tsarskoye Selo, Favorite Palace of Her Imperial Majesty, in Six Leagues from Saint Petersburg performed in pure aquafortis (etching) technique.