Photography Then and Now – Sherbrooke Street West at City Councillors Street, Montréal, Québec

This mural seems to depict a romanticized view of Place Jacques-Cartier, a public square in Old Montreal as it may have appeared in Victorian times.

In 1723, the Château Vaudreuil was built for Philippe de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil - it's formal gardens occupying the space that is now the square. The Chateau burned down in 1803 and it was suggested by The Hon. Jean-Baptiste Durocher and The Hon. Joseph Périnault that the space be transformed into a public square, known as New Market Place. In 1809, Montreal's oldest public monument was raised there, Nelson's Column. In 1847, the square was renamed in honour of Jacques Cartier, the explorer who claimed Canada for France in 1535.

The French Second Empire structure depicted in the right-hand background is the Montreal City Hall which was constructed between 1872 and 1878.

The mural is one of several located in a courtyard on Sherbrooke Street, adjacent to the Delta Hotel. The hotel has planted an urban garden whose trees have almost obscured the murals, which are falling victim to the rigours of the Montreal winter.