X-Nico

2 unusual facts about Bâtiments du Roi


Jules-Robert de Cotte

The younger de Cotte assisted his father in the most prestigious architectural project in France, the building works at the royal palaces, (Bâtiments du Roi).

Nicolas Pineau

Pineau, the son of the carver Jean-Baptiste Pineau (died 1694), who appears in the Bâtiments du Roi accounts for Versailles and elsewhere from 1680, was the outstanding talent among those designers and craftsmen who accompanied Alexandre Le Blond to St. Petersburg in 1716.


Charles de Wailly

Noticed by the Marquis de Marigny, brother of Mme de Pompadour and general director of the Bâtiments du Roi, de Wailly worked in the park of Marigny's Château de Menars and, thanks to his support, managed to obtain the commission of a new theatre for the Comédie-Française.

Jacques Gabriel

His mother was a cousin of Jules Hardouin-Mansart and his father, another Jacques Gabriel was a masonry contractor for the Bâtiments du Roi, the French royal works, and the designer of the Château de Choisy for the king's cousin, La Grande Mademoiselle.

Louis, Grand Dauphin

The Dauphin employed Jules Hardouin Mansart and the office of the Bâtiments du Roi, but most particularly his long-term "house designer" Jean Bérain, head of the Menus Plaisirs, to provide new decors.


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