Antoine Lepautre or Le Pautre (1621–1679) was a French architect and engraver. Born in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, he was the brother of the prolific and inventive designer-engraver

Jean Lepautre Jean Le Pautre or Lepautre (baptised 28 June 1618; died 2 February 1682) was a French designer and engraver, the elder brother of the architect Antoine Le Pautre, the father of the engravers Pierre Lepautre (engraver), Pierre Le Pautre and Jacque ...

. Antoine Lepautre has been called " "one of the most inventive architects of the early years of Louis XIV's reign". He was a protégé of

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 ...

, 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 Jansenism was an early modern theological movement within Catholicism, primarily active in the Kingdom of France, that emphasized original sin, human depravity, the necessity of divine grace, and predestination. It was declared a heresy by th ...

Convent of Port-Royal at Paris. His

Hôtel de Beauvais The Hôtel de Beauvais is a hôtel particulier, a kind of large townhouse of France, at 68 rue Francois-Miron, 4th arrondissement, Paris. Until 1865 rue Francois-Miron formed part of the historic rue Saint Antoine and as such was part of the cere ...

(1655–1660), rue François-Miron, built for Pierre de Beauvais and his wife Catherine Henriette Bellier, ''première dame de chambre'' to Anne of Austria, brought Lepautre celebrity for the ingenious way he made use of a highly irregular parcel of land, ranging his structure round an oval court. The Hôtel de Beauvais's architectural qualities were noted by

Bernini Gian Lorenzo (or Gianlorenzo) Bernini (, , ; Italian Giovanni Lorenzo; 7 December 159828 November 1680) was an Italian sculptor and architect. While a major figure in the world of architecture, he was more prominently the leading sculptor of his ...

during his Paris sojourn, and it remains Lepautre's outstanding surviving monument. The design and construction of the Château du Vaudreuil (Eure) in 1658–1660 has been attributed to Lepautre, but Robert W. Berger, the author of a monograph on the architect, considers this attribution to be doubtful. In 1660 Lepautre was appointed house architect''contrôleur général'' of the ''bâtiments de Monsieur'' to

Philippe I, Duke of Orléans '' Monsieur'' Philippe I, Duke of Orléans (21 September 1640 – 9 June 1701), was the younger son of King Louis XIII of France and his wife, Anne of Austria. His elder brother was the "Sun King", Louis XIV. Styled Duke of Anjou from bir ...

, the brother 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 ...

. In this quality he built the wings for the lost

Château de Saint-Cloud The Château de Saint-Cloud was a château in France, built on a site overlooking the Seine at Saint-Cloud in Hauts-de-Seine, about west of Paris. On the site of the former palace is the state-owned Parc de Saint-Cloud. The château was expand ...

and constructed the celebrated Grand Cascade that survives in its park. Drawings conserved in the Swedish National Museum of Fine Arts, Stockholm, demonstrate that Lepautre was the designer of stables for

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 ...

at the

Château de Sceaux The Château de Sceaux is a grand country house in Sceaux, Hauts-de-Seine, approximately from the centre of Paris, France. Located in a park laid out by André Le Nôtre, visitors can tour the house, outbuildings and gardens. The Petit Château ...

, in the early 1670s.

Madame de Montespan Madame may refer to: * Madam, civility title or form of address for women, derived from the French * Madam (prostitution), a term for a woman who is engaged in the business of procuring prostitutes, usually the manager of a brothel * ''Madame'' ( ...

commissioned him to make plans for her

Château de Clagny The Château de Clagny was a French country house that stood northeast of the Château de Versailles; it was designed by Jules Hardouin-Mansart for Madame de Montespan between 1674 and 1680. Although among the most important of the private r ...

, close to

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...

; the unfinished project was completed after Lepautre's death by

Jules Hardouin-Mansart Jules Hardouin-Mansart (; 16 April 1646 – 11 May 1708) was a French Baroque architect and builder whose major work included the Place des Victoires (1684–1690); Place Vendôme (1690); the domed chapel of Les Invalides (1690), and the Grand T ...

. For Antoine Nompar de Caumont, duc de Lauzun, Lepautre built the Hôtel de Lauzun at

Saint-Germain-en-Laye Saint-Germain-en-Laye () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the centre of Paris. Inhabitants are called ''Saint-Germanois'' or ''Saint-Ge ...

. In 1671, he became one of the first eight members of the

Académie royale d'architecture The Académie Royale d'Architecture (; en, "Royal Academy of Architecture") was a French learned society founded in 1671. It had a leading role in influencing architectural theory and education, not only in France, but throughout Europe and th ...

created by

. The monograph in English is Robert W. Berger, ''Antoine Le Pautre: a French architect of the era of Louis XIV'' (New York University Press) 1969.

Notes

References

* Berger, Robert W. (1969). ''Antoine Le Pautre: a French architect of the era of Louis XIV''. New York University Press. . * Préaud, Maxime (1993). ''Antoine Lepautre, Jacques Lepautre et Jean Lepautre'' vol. I of three (Bibliothèque Nationale. Inventaire du fonds français. Graveurs du XVII siècle. Vol. XI)

External links

* ''Oeuvres d'architecture'' : http://architectura.cesr.univ-tours.fr/Traite/Auteur/Le_Pautre.asp?param=en * *

Augustin-Charles d'Aviler Augustin-Charles d'Aviler (or Daviler) (1653 – 23 June 1701) was a 17th-century French architect. He was one of the main promoters of the vignolesc canon, but far from simply publishing it, he developed it by proposing variations of motifs to gi ...

( 681. ''Les œuvres d'architecture d'Anthoine Le Pautre, architecte ordinaire du Roy''. Paris: Chez Jombert
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Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lepautre, Antoine 17th-century French architects 1621 births 1679 deaths Architects from Paris Members of the Académie royale d'architecture