COTTE, Robert de

Robert de Cotte was one of the most influential architects of the first half of the eighteenth century. He should be regarded mainly as a planner and designer, the realization of his proposals was mostly left to other master builders local to the sites. This was how the Strasbourg architect Joseph Massol (c.1706-1771) realized his most magnificent project, the Palais de Rohan, seat of the prince-bishop of Strasbourg.

The most significant feature of this building, designed as a monumental h�tel, is the fa�ade onto the Ilm, with seventeen window apertures and a dominant central pavilion with giant orders.

Robert de Cotte was one of the most influential architects of the first half of the eighteenth century. He should be regarded mainly as a planner and designer, the realization of his proposals was mostly left to other master builders local to the sites. This was how the Strasbourg architect Joseph Massol (c.1706-1771) realized his most magnificent project, the Palais de Rohan, seat of the prince-bishop of Strasbourg.

The most significant feature of this building, designed as a monumental h�tel, is the fa�ade onto the Ilm, with seventeen window apertures and a dominant central pavilion with giant orders.

Robert de Cotte was one of the most influential architects of the first half of the eighteenth century. He should be regarded mainly as a planner and designer, the realization of his proposals was mostly left to other master builders local to the sites. This was how the Strasbourg architect Joseph Massol (c.1706-1771) realized his most magnificent project, the Palais de Rohan, seat of the prince-bishop of Strasbourg.

The most significant feature of this building, designed as a monumental h�tel, is the fa�ade onto the Ilm, with seventeen window apertures and a dominant central pavilion with giant orders.

Major eighteenth-century French monasteries introduced a light, regular sense of space in many towns. Some examples survived, like the cloister and buildings of Saint Denis, begun after 1708 by Robert de Cotte, who drew up the plans and built the east wings and the south gallery. Upon his death, work resumed from 1739 to 1741 under the supervision of Charles Bonhomme, following plans approved by Louis XIV’s chief architect Jacques V Gabriel and his son Ange-Jacques, then under the architect Bayeux from 1752 to 1754.

The photo shows the abbey buildings which are now the home of the Maison d’�ducation de Saint-Denis (the second boarding school for girls founded by Napoleon).

Since the church of Saint-Roch, built near the Louvre to Lemercier’s design in 1653, remained incomplete, Robert de Cotte provided plans for the fa�ade in c. 1728. He set it on a thirteen-step platform, limited the three-bay composition to two storeys each with a different order, and enlivened it with a play of surface relief, such as slight inset of the upper arch. His emphasis on vigorous plasticity and vertical unity was managed by means of superimposed columns rising through broken entablatures to support a crowning pediment.

With his fa�ade for Saint-Roch (designed c. 1728; built 1736–8), de Cotte completed one of the major basilicas in Paris. It was built between 1736 an 1738.

In 1635, the lord of the Vrilliere - Louis Ph�lipeaux, acquired a small ground left vacant by Richelieu. He decided to build a mansion under the direction of Fran�ois Mansart. One of the rooms - the large gallery on the first floor with the imposing dimensions (40 x 6.5 m) - was to serve as a room to exhibit his exceptional collection of Italian paintings. The vault was painted in 1645 by Fran�ois Perrier, and ten paintings by the greatest masters, such as Poussin, Guercino, Pietro da Cortona) were placed in white paneling enhanced with gold.

In 1713, the Count of Toulouse acquired the house which was renamed H�tel de Toulouse. The new owner, who was the illegitimate son of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan, appealed to Robert de Cotte, the king’s first architect, to arrange the place as a princely residence.

In the pure Regency spirit, gold invades the large gallery (the Galerie Dor�e) and its decorative elements were reviewed to illustrate the themes dear to the Count of Toulouse: hunting and fishing. In 1793, after the Revolution, these properties were declared national property and the works were scattered among various museums. The Galerie Dor�e then served as a paper store for the Imprimerie Nationale. The Banque de France bought the hotel in 1808. In 1870, the state of the Gallery required a complete restoration, the fresco of the vault was then copied and the regency woodwork reinstated in the decor.

In 1635, the lord of the Vrilliere - Louis Ph�lipeaux, acquired a small ground left vacant by Richelieu. He decided to build a mansion under the direction of Fran�ois Mansart. One of the rooms - the large gallery on the first floor with the imposing dimensions (40 x 6.5 m) - was to serve as a room to exhibit his exceptional collection of Italian paintings. The vault was painted in 1645 by Fran�ois Perrier, and ten paintings by the greatest masters, such as Poussin, Guercino, Pietro da Cortona) were placed in white paneling enhanced with gold.

In 1713, the Count of Toulouse acquired the house which was renamed H�tel de Toulouse. The new owner, who was the illegitimate son of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan, appealed to Robert de Cotte, the king’s first architect, to arrange the place as a princely residence.

In the pure Regency spirit, gold invades the large gallery (the Galerie Dor�e) and its decorative elements were reviewed to illustrate the themes dear to the Count of Toulouse: hunting and fishing. In 1793, after the Revolution, these properties were declared national property and the works were scattered among various museums. The Galerie Dor�e then served as a paper store for the Imprimerie Nationale. The Banque de France bought the hotel in 1808. In 1870, the state of the Gallery required a complete restoration, the fresco of the vault was then copied and the regency woodwork reinstated in the decor.