Saint-Pierre Church

Two churches share this picture, built more than seven centuries apart. The small one behind the railings is Saint-Pierre de Montmartre, consecrated in 1147 by Pope Eugene III. Rising behind it are the domes and bell tower of the Sacré-Cœur. In 1914, when Utrillo painted this view, the basilica was finished and its consecration had been set for October of that year. The outbreak of war pushed the ceremony back to 1919. Utrillo gives the old front and the new domes the same thick white paint. The museum points to smaller choices too. Fine horizontal strokes in the roadway mark its rises and dips. The sky is laid on densely, which keeps the space shallow, while small touches of green and yellow bring the leaves of the trees to life.