Collège des Quattre Nations
by PÉRELLE, Gabriel, Engraving
In the 1660s Louis Le Vau had designed for the executors of Mazarin’s will the Coll�ge des Quatre Nations, for the foundation of which the Cardinal had left a large sum. The building, now the Institut de France, was placed on the south side of the Seine on the axis of the Square Court of the Louvre and was conceived as part of the same grand scheme. It is of importance in French architecture of this period as being one of the few buildings to embody some of the principles of Roman Baroque architecture.