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 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-engraver Jean Lepautre. Antoine Lepautre has been called " "one of the most inventive archit ...

, the father of the engravers Pierre Le Pautre and Jacques Le Pautre, and the uncle of the sculptor

Pierre Lepautre Pierre Lepautre may refer to: * Pierre Lepautre (1648–1716), French engraver, who played a role in the development of rococo * Pierre Lepautre (1659–1744), French sculptor {{Hndis, Lepautre, Pierre ...

. Jean Le Pautre was an apprentice to a carpenter and builder. In addition to learning mechanical and constructive work, he developed considerable skill with the pencil. His designs, innumerable in quantity and exuberant in content, consisted mainly of ceilings, friezes, chimney-pieces, doorways and mural decorations. He also devised fire-dogs, sideboards, cabinets, console tables, mirrors and other pieces of furniture. Le Pautre was long employed at the Gobelins manufactory. His work is often very flamboyant and elaborate. He frequently used amorini and swags,

arabesque The arabesque is a form of artistic decoration consisting of "surface decorations based on rhythmic linear patterns of scrolling and interlacing foliage, tendrils" or plain lines, often combined with other elements. Another definition is "Foli ...

s and

cartouche In Egyptian hieroglyphs, a cartouche is an oval with a line at one end tangent to it, indicating that the text enclosed is a royal name. The first examples of the cartouche are associated with pharaohs at the end of the Third Dynasty, but the f ...

s in his work. His chimney-pieces, in contrast, were often simple and elegant. His engraved plates, nearly 1,500 in number, are almost entirely original and include a portrait of himself. He made many designs for Andre Charles Boulle. In 1677 he became a member of the

French Academy French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with France ...

as a ''dessignateur'' and ''graveur''. Le Pautre's daughter Marie in 1669 became the second wife of the sculptor

Pierre Le Gros the Elder Pierre Le Gros the Elder (baptised 27 May 1629 Chartres – died 11 May 1714 Paris)Gerhard Bissell, ''Le Gros, Pierre (1629)'', in: Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon, vol. 83, de Gruyter, Berlin 2014, . was a French sculptor in the service of King ...

and

stepmother A stepmother, stepmum or stepmom is a non-biological female parent married to one's preexisting parent. A stepmother-in-law is a stepmother of one's spouse. Children from her spouse's previous unions are known as her stepchildren. Culture Step ...

to the three-year-old

Pierre Le Gros the Younger Pierre Le Gros (12 April 1666 Paris – 3 May 1719 Rome) was a French sculptor, active almost exclusively in Baroque Rome where he was the pre-eminent sculptor for nearly two decades.Gerhard Bissell, ''Pierre le Gros, 1666–1719'', Reading ...

, who in turn learned drawing from Jean Le Pautre. (in German)

References

* * Préaud, Maxime (2011). 'Jean Lepautre's Forgotten Seven Cannons', Print Quarterly, XXVIII, 2011 pp. 318–20.

External links

1618 births 1682 deaths 17th-century French engravers {{printmaker-stub