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(1) Jean Le Pautre
(b Paris, 1618; d Paris, 1682). Designer and engraver. He was active as a printmaker from 1643 but was most prolific in the 1660s. His output was prodigious, with 2348 prints having been recorded, and his range of subjects was extremely broad: interior decoration, including specific studies for bed alcoves, chimney-pieces (see CHIMNEY-PIECE, fig. 2), ceilings, wallpapers, furniture, friezes, vases, trophies, tapestry, garden ornament and grottoes were all explored in detail and executed with remarkable facility. He was equally at home delineating landscape and the human figure. Le Pautre’s engravings are notable for their richness and their spirited and vivacious conception. Bernini held him in high respect, and clearly the admiration was returned. This is most evident in Le Pautre’s set of engravings devoted to garden ornaments, which have elaborately ornamented borders that exhibit the same plasticity and movement found in Bernini’s sculptures. Le Pautre’s knowledge of Italian art was probably acquired second-hand: in 1645 he engraved a series of drawings of antique and Baroque ornament made by his teacher, Adam Philippon, in Italy. In 1670 he is recorded as being in the employ of the crown, and in 1677 he was elected to the Académie Française as a dessignateur and graveur. Many of his works were reprinted in 1751 by the publisher Jombert. According to Guilmard, Le Pautre was responsible for instigating the Louis XIV style, the grandiose and sumptuous character of which is evident in his prints. Examples of his work include Vases ou burettes à la romaine (Paris, [c. 1660]), published by Nicolas Langlois, the six plates depicting L’Entrée triomphante de leurs majestez Louis XIV, roy de France, et Marie Thérèse d’Austriche son espouse, dans la ville de Paris (Paris, 1662) and the series Alcôves à l’italienne (Paris, 1665) and Alcôves à la romaine (Paris, [c. 1670]) and Vases à l’antique (Paris, [c. 1675]), all published by Pierre Mariette. A particularly splendid series is the group of five large engravings for the commemorative volume Les Divertissements de Versailles, 1674 (Paris, 1676).
Part of the Le Pautre family
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