Nadar made his name as a portrait photographer, capturing the faces and personalities of countless Parisians. He was also drawn to the anonymous, subterranean world of the catacombs, where, he wrote, "all come to vanish, even the memory of the father in the son." Nadar was the first to photograph the catacombs using artificial light. One of his photographs served as the basis for this macabre etching by Adolphe Martial Potémont in his series Old Paris.