CUVILLIÉS, François de, the Elder - b. 1695 Soignies, Hainaut, d. 1768 München - WGA

CUVILLIÉS, François de, the Elder

(b. 1695 Soignies, Hainaut, d. 1768 München)

French architect and designer of Flemish origin, active in Germany. Cuvilliés was so diminutive in stature that it was as a court dwarf he first came to the notice of the currently exiled Max Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria, who detected the young dwarf’s aptitude and had him tutored in mathematics, then underwrote his further education with Joseph Effner (1687-1745) and sent him to Paris, 1720-24, where he trained in the atelier of Jean-François Blondel (1681-1756). On his return to Munich he was appointed court architect, at first in conjunction with Effner.

At the Elector’s death in 1726, for a time Cuvilliés worked at Schloss Brühl for the new Elector’s brother, Clemens August of Bavaria. He provided designs for the chapel at Brühl, (1730-40) and the hunting lodge Falkenlust but as Charles Albert’s interests shifted to Munich, he also returned to Munich. There his fame was established by the decors of the Reiche Zimmer in the Munich Residenz (damaged by a fire in 1729). The contents of the Schatzkammer fortunately had been spared, and Cuvilliés was commissioned to design the paneling of a new interior, to be executed by the court’s premier carver Joachim Dietrich (1690-1753).

His masterpiece is the Amalienburg in the park at Nymphenburg, built 1734-39, with silvered or gilded naturalist Rococo decorations set off by coloured grounds.

The Residenztheater, or “Cuvilliés Theatre” (1751-55) designed and constructed for Elector Max III Joseph by Cuvilliés; though the theatre was bombed during World War II, the carved and gilded boxes had been dismantled and stored for security. Afterwards the Residenztheatre was meticulously recreated in the 1950s.

He wrote several treatises on artistic and decorative subjects, which were edited by his son, François de Cuvilliés the Younger (1731-1777), who succeeded his father at the court of Munich. From 1738 he embarked on his lifelong series of suites of engravings of wall-paneling, cornices, furniture and wrought-iron work, which were then published in Munich and distributed in Paris and doubtless elsewhere; they served to disseminate the Rococo throughout Europe.

Exterior view

The Amalienburg is an elaborate hunting lodge in the grounds of Nymphenburg Palace, Munich. It was constructed in 1734–1739 by Fran�ois de Cuvilli�s, in Rococo style, for the later Holy Roman Emperor Charles VII and his wife, Maria Amalia of Austria.

The picture shows the fa�ade of Amalienburg in the park of the Schloss Nymphenburg (Nymphenburg Palace). It is considered the masterpiece of Fran�ois de Cuvilli�s, the French architect active in Munich.

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Exterior view

In 1724, Johann Conrad Schlaun received possibly the most interesting project of his young career from Elector Clemens August, also archbishop of Cologne. He was asked to rebuild Schloss Br�hl, near Cologne. It was a difficult commission. On the one hand, the Elector wanted his rank as ruler enshrined in a suitable seat, but on the other, he wanted to save on building costs. He therefore ordered that the ruins of an earlier structure, a moated castle, should be thoroughly explored for materials that could be reused. Schlaun had to take over the ground plan of the medieval edifice, but was at the same time keen to introduce modern Roman ideas borrowed from Borromini and Bernini. His solution obviously did not entirely satisfy his client. The latter’s brother, the Elector Charles Frederick of Bavaria, harshly criticized the architecture, and dispatched his own court architect, Fran�ois de Cuvilli�s, from Munich to Cologne bearing new plans. In 1728 Schlaun was dismissed from the project.

Cuvilli�s transformed Schlaun’s traditional castle model with its cramped courtyard and medieval round tower into a modern palace with the character of a summer residence in the French manner. In 1741 Balthasar Neumann came to Br�hl and designed the stairwell, built three years later. Thus, after over forty years the palace was finally completed. It contained stylistic features borrowed from prominent Baroque buildings in Italy, France, and south Germany.

The picture shows the fa�ade of the palace from the east.

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Exterior view

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Interior view

Most of the ground floor is given over to the round Hall of Mirrors in the centre of the building. It was designed by Johann Baptist Zimmermann and Joachim Dietrich (1690–1753). It creates an ethereal atmosphere in the Bavarian national colours of silver and blue.

The picture shows Hall of Mirrors.

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