Now my flowerpot will have some sunshine. . . I will finally know whether it is a rose or a gillyflower!

In 1852, Napoleon III hired city planner Georges-Eugène Haussmann to modernize Paris. Haussmann transformed the city with a network of wide boulevards, an advanced sewer system, new bridges and buildings, and numerous parks and gardens. In the process the medieval character of Paris disappeared and more than half the buildings in the city were altered. In this image, Daumier directs his biting wit to those changes. An older couple looks out as their neighborhood is demolished and comment with dubious optimism that now their flower will bloom from the increased sunlight.