Works after Perrault included in this catalogue
Bérain Plan General du Chasteau du Louvre {1879} NGV [PR] [Levey gift, cat.39-40]
Le Clerc Installation of the Louvre Pediment 1677 {1879} NGV [PR] [Levey gift, cat.41]
These engravings document the key role played by Perrault in the reconstruction of the Louvre and Tuileries Palaces during the early years of Louis XI’s reign, specifically his 1674 scheme to link the two palaces through courtyards, and his supervision of the construction of the Louvre colonnade (begun in 1667). For further details and references, see general introductory remarks to Levey gift, cat.39-82.
Perrault’s younger brother Charles (1628-1703) – probably best known now for his 1697 retellings of various fairy tales including ‘Cinderella’ and ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ – was also highly influential, as deputy in the royal building administration to Louis XIV’s powerful finance minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1619-83). Charles Perrault’s Parallèle des Anciens et des Modernes (1688-92) advocated a flexible, modern approach to antique precedent in architecture, already apparent in his older brother’s previous designs.
See also Leclerc Visit of Louis XIV to the Jardin du roi {1879} NGV [PR] [Levey gift, cat.174], dating from c.1671, showing Perrault giving Louis XIV a tour of the new Paris academy of science and botanical gardens, with the architect’s own remarkable Observatory (begun in 1667) under construction in the background.
Refs.
For Perrault’s architectural activity, see in particular Berger A Royal Passion (1994), passim, but esp.chs.4 (Louvre and Tuileries) and 5 (Observatory)
For Charles Perrault, see e.g. Marina Warner, From the Beast to the Blonde: On Fairy Tales and their Tellers [1994], London: Vintage, 1995: refer index