Jean Bérain
decorator, painter, and engraver; b. 1638 or 1639, at Saint Mihiel, France; d. January 24, 1711.
He was probably a pupil of Gissey, whom he succeeded in 1674 as dessinateur du cabinet du roi. He was the chief assistant of Charles Lebrun, and executed under his direction the decoration of the Galerie d'Apollon at the Louvre, and of the châteaux of Versailles, Saint Germain, Sceaux, etc. He also designed tapestries at the Gobelins. At the death of Lebrun, in 1690, Bérain succeeded him in much of the decoration of the royal palaces. In 1677 he was granted lodgings in the Louvre, where he died. As an engraver he first appears in the illustration of Diverses pièces de serrurerie inventées par Hugues Brisville, Paris, 1663, 4to. The Œveres de J. Bérain contenant des ornements d'architecture was published in 1711 (Paris, folio). A reprint, 100 planches principales de l'œuvre complet de Jean Bérain, has been published by Quentin. His brother, Claude Bérain, was an engraver of note, and his son Jean succeeded him in his work.
Antoine Desgodetz
architect and archaeologist; b. 1653 (at Paris); d. May 20, 1728.
Desgodetz was sent to the French Academy at Rome, as pensionnaire du roi, in 1674. Returning to Paris in 1678, he was made in 1680 contrôleur of the buildings at the château of Chambord (Loir-et-Cher, France). In 1699 he was made architecte du roi and in 1707 professor at the Académie. His principal book is the Edifices antiques de Rome (Paris, 1682), printed by order of Colbert at the royal expense. He published also Des Ordres d'Architecture; De la construction des dômes, des églises, des palais; Des lois des bâtiments suivant la coutume de Paris, etc.
D. Guarino Guarini
architect; b. 1624 (at Modena, Italy); d. 1685.
Guarini was a Theatine monk who carried the baroque style in Italy to its extreme development. In 1674 he became the court architect to the Duke Carlo Emmanuele II of Savoy. He served also his successor, the King Vittorio Amadeo I. His most extraordinary buildings are the domical church of S. Lorenzo and the sanctuary (also domical) of the Madonna della Cousolata, both in Turin. He built about 1657 the mortuary chapel of the house of Savoy at the church of S. Giovanni (Turin). Buildings were erected from Guarini's designs at Lisbon and Prague. He built the Theatine church of S. Anne on the Quai Voltaire, Paris, which has been destroyed. Guarini was a speculative writer on philosophy and mathematics. His last work was an Architettura civile.
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