Explore the Setting of this artwork, Paris Street; Rainy Day.
Paris Street; Rainy Day gives a view from the eastern side of the Rue de Turin, looking north toward the Place de Dublin. The neoclassical buildings reflect the construction works of Baron Haussmann. The view shown is spacious, and details a broad view of a number of streets. Although the ashlar facades of the buildings might today seem uniform, at the time they would have been modern and fresh – in Caillebotte's youth the area was a hill just beyond the city edge just beginning to be developed as a residential center for the bourgeoisie.Three roads are visible on the northern side of the square: the rue de Moscou (left), the rue Clapeyron (center), and a continuation of the rue de Turin (right), which runs from the foreground and into the background. The square is crossed by the rue de Saint-Pétersbourg, suggested by the line of the buildings to the left and a break in the buildings to the right. The point of view of the roads and the buildings portrayed allows Caillebotte to use two-point perspective.
The ground floor of the building between the Rue de Moscou and the Rue Clapeyron, showing a 'pharmacie' sign in the painting, still houses a pharmacy today.
Rue de Turin ashlar Rue Clapeyron bourgeoisie Baron Haussmann two-point perspective left Place de Dublin Rue de Moscou