Claude Perrault

Claude Perrault ( born September 25, 1613 Paris, † October 9, 1688 ) was an eminent French architect, art theorist and classical scholar, physician and scientist. He was the brother of the poet and art theorist Charles Perrault.

Life

With the drafting of the " Ordonnance of cinq espèces of colonnes selon la méthode the anciens " ( order of the five types of columns according to the method of the ancients ), Paris in 1683, Perrault formulated a momentous for the French classical architecture system for the formation of the orders. From Claude Perrault comes the most important French translation of the " Ten Books on Architecture " of the ancient Roman writer Vitruvius Architecture (Les dix livres d'architecture de Vitruve, Paris 1673, 2nd edition Paris 1684).

Claude Perrault's writings were in the Querelle des Anciens et Modernes an important contribution to the position of the Modern. Major opponents of the brothers Perrault on the part of the Anciens was the poet Nicolas Boileau. In the " proportions dispute" took Claude Perrault against François Blondel the view that beauty is not eternally valid divine laws ( " beautez positive " ) based but on time -related human agreements ( " beautez arbitraires ").

Claude Perrault was to design along with Louis Le Vau and Charles Le Brun member of the Petit Conseil du Louvre, an artist collective that, after the failure of Bernini planning, got the job in 1667, the new main facade of the Louvre on the east side. Here, the dominant motif of the facade, the free-standing double-column goes on a podium level ( " Colonnade of the Louvre " ) probably derives from Claude Perrault and his brother Charles. The façade was even led in France in the 17th and 18th centuries as evidence of the superiority of the French over the Italian, ancient architecture and applied with their hidden iron reinforcements in technical terms as a marvel. The Petit Conseil also designed from 1667, the Louvre south side of the Seine.

From Claude Perrault comes the design of the 1667 to 1672 built Royal Observatory in Paris. Furthermore, in 1669 he designed a large triumphal arch in honor of King Louis XIV in the Place du Trone, today's Place de la Nation in Paris. He was implemented as a 1:1 model in perishable material and only partially implemented in stone, soon fell and was demolished in 1716. Built in 1672 Pavillon d' Aurore in the park of Sceaux is attributed by some authors Claude Perrault. With a staircase design for the Louvre and a new building project for the church of Sainte -Geneviève Perrault transferred the colonnades as a support system in the vaulted interior, and thus prepared the 1698 in the chapel of Versailles realized architectural ideas the way.

Claude Perrault had a doctorate in Sorbonne University in Paris and was one of the first members of the Académie Royale des Sciences.

Perrault's brother Charles is primarily known for his fairy tales. His literary fairy tales were included in the collection of the Brothers Grimm ( Little Red Riding Hood, Puss in Boots, Sleeping Beauty, etc.).

Works (selection)

• Private Ordonnance for the five kinds of columns after the methods of the ancients ( " Ordonnance of espèces cinq de la méthode colonnes selon of the anciens "). Getty center for the history of art to the humanities, Santa Monica, Calif. 1993, ISBN 0-89236-232-4 ( Repr ed d Paris 1683)

• Translations Vitruvius: Les dix livres d'architecture de Vitruve. Errance Éditions, Paris 2005, ISBN 2-87772-319-4 ( Repr d ed 1684)