Antoine eRatabon (1617 – 12 March 1670) was a French aristocrat, who was an arts and architecture administrator during the reign of

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Vers ...

.Vitu 1880, pp. 151–153
He was Director of the

Académie de Peinture et de Sculpture An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

from 1655 to 1670 and Surintendant des Bâtiments (Superintendent of Buildings) from 1656 to 1664.

Early life and career

Ratabon was born in

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

, the son of Jean de Ratabon, an

equerry An equerry (; from French ' stable', and related to 'squire') is an officer of honour. Historically, it was a senior attendant with responsibilities for the horses of a person of rank. In contemporary use, it is a personal attendant, usually up ...

, and Catherine Pache from Servien, near Mende. He became Maître d'Hôtel Ordinaire of King Louis XIV, Trésorier Général de France at Montpellier, and Intendant des

Gabelle The ''gabelle'' () was a very unpopular tax on salt in France that was established during the mid-14th century and lasted, with brief lapses and revisions, until 1946. The term ''gabelle'' is derived from the Italian ''gabella'' (a duty), itself ...

s of

Languedoc The Province of Languedoc (; , ; oc, Lengadòc ) is a former province of France. Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximately ...

Bâtiments du Roi

In Paris he became First Assistant to François Sublet de Noyers, who was the Surintendant des Bâtiments under

Cardinal Richelieu Armand Jean du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu (; 9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a French clergyman and statesman. He was also known as ''l'Éminence rouge'', or "the Red Eminence", a term derived from the ...

, and continued in this role under Étienne Le Camus, who succeeded Sublet de Noyers as Surintendant after the latter's dismissal under

Cardinal Mazarin Cardinal Jules Mazarin (, also , , ; 14 July 1602 – 9 March 1661), born Giulio Raimondo Mazzarino () or Mazarini, was an Italian cardinal, diplomat and politician who served as the chief minister to the Kings of France Louis XIII and Louis X ...

in 1643. Ratabon succeeded Le Camus in 1656. Ratabon relinquished the post to

Jean-Baptiste Colbert Jean-Baptiste Colbert (; 29 August 1619 – 6 September 1683) was a French statesman who served as First Minister of State from 1661 until his death in 1683 under the rule of King Louis XIV. His lasting impact on the organization of the countr ...

on 1 January 1664. In his role as Surintendant des Bâtiments, Ratabon ordered the demolition of the

Hôtel du Petit-Bourbon The Hôtel du Petit-Bourbon, a former Parisian town house of the royal family of Bourbon, was located on the right bank of the Seine on the rue d'Autriche, between the Louvre to the west and the Church of Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois to the east ...

in October 1660 to make way for the eastward expansion of the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

and construction of the

Louvre Colonnade The Louvre Colonnade is the easternmost façade of the Palais du Louvre in Paris. It has been celebrated as the foremost masterpiece of French Architectural Classicism since its construction, mostly between 1667 and 1674. The design, dominated by ...

. The order resulted in the eviction without warning of the

troupe of Molière Troupe may refer to: General *Comedy troupe, a group of comedians * Dance troupe, a group of dancers **Fire troupe, a group of fire dancers *Troupe system, a method of playing role-playing games *Theatrical troupe, a group of theatrical performers ...

from the theatre of the Petit Bourbon and their transfer to the disused and run-down theatre of the Palais-Royal.

Personal life

By a contract of 1 March 1647, Ratabon married Marie Sanguin, daughter of Nicolas Sanguin, an equerry and sieur de Pierrelaye. The eight-year-old Louis XIV, his mother Anne d'Autriche, and Cardinal Mazarin were all present and signed the contract. The couple had several children of which three survived into adulthood: * Louis de Ratabon (died September 1693), seigneur de Trememont, Gentleman of the

Chambre du Roi ''La Chambre du Roi'' (), "the king's bedchamber"), has always been the central feature of the king's apartment in traditional French palace design Ceremonies surrounding the daily life of the king — such as the ''levée'' (the ceremonial raisi ...

, Governor of

Fécamp Fécamp () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in north-western France. Geography Fécamp is situated in the valley of the river Valmont, at the heart of the Pays de Caux, on the Alabaster Coast. It is around ...

, and Special Envoy for the King to

Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

and other foreign places. * Marie-Marguerite de Ratabon (1652–1736), married Louis Verjus, Seigneur et Comte de Crécy, in 1676. * Martin de Ratabon (1654–1728), doctor at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

, Bishop of YpresH. Thiry-Van Buggenhoudt, (1905)
"Ratabon, Martin de", vol. 18, column 753"
in ''Biographie nationale''. Académie royale des sciences, des lettres et des beaux-arts de Belgique. In 1664 Ratabon constructed a house, the Hôtel de Ratabon, to the designs of the architect

Pierre Le Muet Pierre Le Muet (7 October 1591 – 28 September 1669)Mignot 1996. was a French architect, military engineer, and writer, famous for his book ''Manière de bâtir pour toutes sortes de personnes'' (1623 and 1647), and for the châteaux he construc ...

on a site on the western border of the garden of the

Palais-Royal The Palais-Royal () is a former royal palace located in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France. The screened entrance court faces the Place du Palais-Royal, opposite the Louvre. Originally called the Palais-Cardinal, it was built for Cardinal ...

, now 10

rue de Richelieu The Rue de Richelieu is a long street of Paris, starting in the south of the 1st arrondissement at the Comédie-Française and ending in the north of the 2nd arrondissement. For the first half of the 19th century, before Georges-Eugène Haussma ...

in the

1st arrondissement of Paris The 1st arrondissement of Paris (''Ier arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is colloquially referred to as ''le premier'' (the first). It is governed locally toge ...

.Gady 2008, p. 315. He died in this house in 1670. It was destroyed in 1873.

Notes

Bibliography

* Bajou, Thierry (1998). ''La peinture à Versailles : XVIIe siècle''. nglish edition: ''Paintings at Versailles: XVIIth Century'', translated by Elizabeth Wiles-Portier, p. 76.Paris: Réunion des musées nationaux. . (English edition). * Ballon, Hilary (1999). ''Louis Le Vau: Mazarin's Collège, Colbert's Revenge''. Princeton University Press. . * Cojannot, Alexandre (2003). "Mazarin et le « Grand Dessein » du Louvre: Projets et réalisations de 1652 à 1664.", , , in ''

Bibliothèque de l'École des Chartes The ''Bibliothèque de l'École des Chartes'' is a journal dedicated to the study and use of medieval manuscripts. It was founded in 1839 and continues to provide bi-annual issues with articles and abstracts in French, English, and German. Star ...

''. . . * Gady, Alexandre (2008). ''Les Hôtels particuliers de Paris du Moyen Âge à la Belle Époque''. Paris: Parigramme. . * Gordan, Alden R. (1996)
"Maison du Roi, II. Bâtiments du Roi", vol. 20, pp. 132–137
in ''

The Dictionary of Art ''Grove Art Online'' is the online edition of ''The Dictionary of Art'', often referred to as the ''Grove Dictionary of Art'', and part of Oxford Art Online, an internet gateway to online art reference publications of Oxford University Press, ...

'', 34 volumes, edited by Jane Turner. New York: Grove. . * Hardouin, Christophe (1994). "La Collection de portraits de l'Académie royale de Peinture et de Sculpture: Peintures entrées sous le règne de Louis XIV (1648–1715", Mémoire de D.E.A., Université de Paris IV, 1994, pp. 164–166. * Jal, Auguste (1872)
"Ratabon (Antoine de)", p. 1042
in ''Dictionnaire critique de biographie et d'histoire'', 2nd edition. Paris: Henri Plon. *

Laprade, Albert Albert Laprade (29 November 1883 – 9 May 1978) was a French architect, perhaps best known for the Palais de la Porte Dorée. During a long career he undertook many urban renewal projects as well as major industrial and commercial works. A ski ...

(1955). "Portraits des premiers architectes de Versailles", ''Revue des Arts'', March 1955, pp. 21–24. * Laprade, Albert (1960). ''François d'Orbay: Architecte de Louis XIV''. Paris: Éditions Vincent, Fréal. . * Michel, Christian (2018). ''The Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture: The Birth of the French School, 1648–1793'', translated from French by Chris Miller. Los Angeles: Getty Research Institute. . * Vitu, Auguste-Charles-Joseph (1880). ''La Maison mortuaire de Molière d'apres des Documents inédits, avec Plans et Dessins''. Paris: Alphonse Lemerre
Copy
at

HathiTrust HathiTrust Digital Library is a large-scale collaborative repository of digital content from research libraries including content digitized via Google Books and the Internet Archive digitization initiatives, as well as content digitized locally ...

Copy
at Gallica. * Williams, Hannah (2015). ''Académie Royale: A History in Portraits''. Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Ratabon, Antoine De 1617 births 1670 deaths People from Montpellier Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture Heads of the Bâtiments du Roi