The sixty or so photographs taken by Gaspard-Félix Tournachon (dit Nadar) in the Paris catacombs in 1862 are the most spectacular use of his 1861 patent for artificial light photography which he had been experimenting since 1859.
Nadar worked with the electric regulator invented by Victor Serrin, activated by a fifty-element Bunsen battery. (Sylvie Aubenas, 2018)
Despite this artificial light, exposures of 18 minutes were required.

Nadar exhibited his photographs of the catacombs several times after 1862 and even included them in the decoration of successive workshops right until the turn of the twentieth century, as emblematic of a heroic phase of his career. (Aubenas, 2008). The rare CDV is an example of the use of these fascinating images. The photographs were also displayed at the photography exhibition in the Palais de l'Industrie in 1863.

Albumen print of the CDV in good condition with nice tonality. Trimmed corners. Titled and dated 1863 in the negative. These CDV cards are rare.

Literature :
- Sylvie Aubenas, Catacombes. Nadar au royaume des morts, L’Oeil Curieux, Paris, 2018, p. 10.