- Antoine Lepautre
Antoine Lepautre or Le Pautre (1621 — 1679) was a French architect and engraver. Born in
Paris , he was the brother of the prolific and inventive designer-engraverPierre Lepautre . Antoine Lepautre has been called " "one of the most inventive architects of the early years of Louis XIV's reign" [Stéphane Loire, reviewing Maxime Préaud's "Antoine Lepautre, Jacques Lepautre et Jean Lepautre", "The Burlington Magazine" 138 No. 1116 (March 1996), p. 198. ] He was a protegé ofCardinal Mazarin , to whom he dedicated his "Desseins de plusieurs palais" (Paris, 1652/3), in which his imagination is given free rein.In 1646-1648, Lepautre built a chapel for the
Jansenist Convent of Port-Royal at Paris.His Hôtel de Beauvais (1655-1660), rue François-Miron, brought him celebrity for the ingenious way he made use of a highly irregular parcel of land. The Hôtel de Beauvais's architectural qualities were noted by Bernini during his Paris sojourn, and it remains Lepautre's outstanding surviving monument.
He built the Château du Vaudreuil (Eure) in 1658-1660.
In 1660 Lepautre was appointed house architect ["contrôleur général" of the "bâtiments de Monsieur"] to
Philippe I, Duke of Orléans , the brother of Louis XIV. In this quality he built the wings for the lostChâteau de Saint-Cloud and the celebrated Grand Cascade that survives in itspark.Drawings conserved in the Swedish
National Museum of Fine Arts , Stockholm, demonstrate that Lepautre was the designer of stables forJean-Baptiste Colbert at theChâteau de Sceaux , in the early 1670s.Madame de Montespan commissioned him to make plans for herChâteau de Clagny , close to Versailles; the unfinished project was completed after Lepautre's death byJules Hardouin-Mansart . For Antoine Nompar de Caumont, duc de Lauzun, Lepautre built the Hôtel de Lauzun atSaint-Germain-en-Laye .In 1671 he was made a member of the
Académie Royale d'Architecture .Notes
References
*Maxime Préaud, 1993. "Antoine Lepautre, Jacques Lepautre et Jean Lepautre" vol. I of three (Bibliothèque Nationale. Inventaire du fonds français. Graveurs du XVII siècle. Vol. XI)
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