Prelude: The Genesis of Modern Architectural Theory in 17th Century France

Prelude to Modern Architectural Theory: Descartes, Blondel, and Perrault

1. François Blondel and the French Academic Tradition

The Shift in Architectural Thought

At the dawn of the seventeenth century in France, architectural thought, similar to Italy and Spain, was deeply rooted in a divinely sanctioned cosmology. This perspective held that architecture embodied a natural order, a stable grammar of eternal forms, numbers, and proportional relations believed to have been passed down from ancient times. Jean Bautista Villalpanda, in his $1604$ commentary on the prophet Ezekiel and Solomon's Temple, even posited that these proportions were not only consistent with the Vitruvian tradition but were directly revealed by God to Solomon.

Cartesian Doubt and the Rise of Reason

This traditional view soon faced philosophical challenge from René Descartes ($1596-1650$). In his foundational work, Rules for the Direction of the Mind, written before $1628$, Descartes advocated for a new approach: "Concerning objects proposed for study, we ought to investigate what we can clearly and evidently intuit or deduce with certainty, and not what other people have thought or what we ourselves conjecture." This declaration marks a significant turning point, representing the initial stirrings of modern theory, pitting inherited tradition against the confident power of human reason.

Descartes's third "rule" further introduced the principle later known as "Cartesian doubt." This involved the provisional and methodical suspension of belief in any knowledge acquired solely through books or idle speculation. Descartes argued this critical skepticism was vital to liberate modern science from the biases of scholastic and ancient thought, re-establishing knowledge on "clear and distinct" ideas. For instance, Aristotelian terminology and teachings were no longer to be considered sacrosanct; a modern critical mind, he insisted, should tackle problems anew, grounding investigations in empirical results and deductive reasoning.

Cartesianism in the Arts: Roland Fréart de Chambray

By mid-century, Cartesianism gained significant traction within French scientific circles, and its influence began to permeate the arts. Roland Fréart de Chambray ($1606-76$), an architect, exemplified this shift in his $1650$ Parallèle de l'architecture antique avec la moderne (Parallel of ancient architecture with the modern). Fréart urged contemporary architects to abandon "blind respect and reverence" for antiquity and custom, asserting that "the mind is free, not bound" and that modern architects had as much right to innovate as the Ancients, without becoming their "Slaves."

Despite this distancing from traditional reverence, Fréart's skepticism was not absolute. Aligning with the philosophical tenor of his time, he grounded his book on "the Principles of Geometry," believing that essential architectural beauty resided in the "Symmetry and Oeconomy of the whole," or in the "visible harmony and consent" that enlightened minds could perceive with "excess of delectation." However, Fréart's critical view of the past found limited support among his contemporaries; France, in the latter half of the $17$th century, intensified its pursuit of the classical ideal.

2. Modern Architectural Theory: Louis XIV, Colbert, and the French Academies

The Reign of Louis XIV and Cultural Revival

The cultural backdrop for this classical resurgence was the reign of Louis XIV, who ascended the throne in $1661$. Driven by a profound ambition to elevate France's standing globally across all fields, Louis XIV initially achieved immense success. France's emergence from the Thirty Years' War ($1618-48$) as the strongest and most prosperous European nation, boasting a population four times that of England and eighteen times that of the Dutch Republic, provided him with both manpower and resources for grand undertakings. He was further aided by his chief minister and superintendent of building, Jean-Baptiste Colbert ($1619-83$). Voltaire, nearly a century later, lauded Louis XIV's era alongside those of Alexander, Augustus, and the Medicis, recognizing it as a period where "the arts were carried to perfection" and served as an "era of greatness of the human mind" and an "example for posterity."

This was an age of remarkable exploration and cultural activity. French Jesuit missionaries ventured to distant lands like China and North America. Colbert dispatched emissaries, such as Charles François Olier, Marquis de Nointel, who traveled to Constantinople in $1670$ to negotiate a trade treaty and subsequently recorded the still-intact Parthenon sculptures in Egypt and Greece with his artists (notably Jacques Carrey). Domestically, Colbert focused on establishing and reorganizing various academies and directing major building projects for the young king, actions that profoundly shaped architectural theory.

The Evolution of Academies in France

The concept of an academy, derived from Plato's park in Athens, was revived in $15$th-century Italy. It denoted any philosophical discussion group, like the circle around Giangiorgio Trissino in Vincenza, where Palladio commenced his higher education in the $1530$s. Palladio himself co-founded the Accademia Olimpica in $1555$, which explored classical works and mathematics. The Accademia del Designo, founded in Florence in $1563$, was among the first dedicated entirely to the arts, though its educational program remained largely on paper. In contrast, Rome's Accademia de San Luca, inaugurated in $1593$, quickly became a premier institution for art theory and practice.

Early French academies were similarly private, but Cardinal Richelieu founded the French Academy in $1635$, initially focused on a French dictionary and literary rules. More influential was the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, established in $1648$ (modeled after Rome's San Luca) as a practical instruction school. After Louis XIV's ascension in the $1660$s, a state-led expansion began:

• $1661$: Academy of Dance
• $1663$: The "Little Academy" (forerunner to the Academy of Inscriptions and Belles Lettres)
• $1664$: Colbert reformed the Academy of Painting and Sculpture, mandating instruction and opening the French Academy in Rome for advanced students.
• $1666$: Academy of Sciences
• $1669$: Academy of Music
• $1671$: Royal Academy of Architecture (the "crown jewel" of this system)

Through these foundations, Colbert and Louis XIV achieved two key objectives: establishing a prestigious class of "academicians" with instructional duties and centralizing all artistic education under state authority. Disciplinary rules were now strictly mandated and based on ancient and Renaissance precedents.

François Blondel: First Director of the Royal Academy of Architecture

The Royal Academy of Architecture's first director was François Blondel ($1618-86$), a $53$-year-old mathematician and engineer. Though he arrived late to architecture, Blondel was a distinguished polymath, excelling in military and naval battles, undertaking a diplomatic mission to Turkey, visiting Italy, Greece, and Egypt, lecturing on mathematics at the Collège de France, and serving as ambassador to Denmark. Prior to his directorship, he had fortified arsenals, improved seaport defenses, and mentored Colbert's second son during his Italian tour.

3. Blondel's Teachings, Colbert's Influence, and Claude Perrault

The Royal Academy of Architecture's Mandate and Blondel's Cours d'architecture

The Royal Academy of Architecture's primary mission was to codify and disseminate the principles of classical design through two public lectures per week. The first hour addressed theoretical architecture, followed by a talk on technical aspects, such as Euclidean geometry rudiments. Blondel's inaugural address on December $31$, $1671$, celebrated the advantages of architectural mastery and urged students to benefit from the king's generosity, managed by Colbert. A key challenge for the Academy was to reform the classical tradition in response to perceived abuses of the Baroque period, asserting French architectural independence from the Italian classical legacy and aiming to surpass Italian achievements. Consequently, antiquity, rather than the Renaissance, became the primary historical precedent for French theoretical development. Vitruvius's teachings took precedence, with Renaissance interpretations (Palladio, Scamozzi, Vignola, Serlio, Alberti) consulted only when Vitruvius was unclear.

Blondel fulfilled his mandate by publishing his lectures as Cours d'architecture between $1675$ and $1683$ in two substantial volumes. His teachings adhered to the traditional belief that architectural beauty fundamentally stemmed from proportions. He asserted that architectural proportions (visual) and musical tonalities (auditory) both originated from a higher cosmic order, and the perception of these consonances was facilitated by a divinely implanted idea in the human mind. Blondel was influenced by his friend, musicologist René Ouvrard, whose Architecture harmonique posited that "a building cannot be perfect if it does not follow the same rules as composition or the harmonizing of musical chords." Proportional relations were thus considered the essence of architectural practice, with beauty seen as an absolute ideal discerned through these ratios. While Blondel's analyses occasionally echoed Fréart de Chambray's earlier skepticism, it never alienated proponents of the classical past, firmly positioning architecture within the classical tradition at the outset of Louis XIV's reign.

Colbert's Impact as Superintendent of Buildings and the Louvre Project

Colbert's influence also extended through his role as superintendent of buildings, royal manufacturers, commerce, and fine arts, a position he assumed on January $1$, $1664$. This granted him near-absolute control over the monarch's numerous artistic and architectural initiatives. For instance, he nationalized the Gobelin tapestry factory in Paris, placing it under Charles Le Brun, the king's first painter. This brought hundreds of skilled artisans (painters, sculptors, engravers, goldsmiths, cabinet makers, weavers, dyers, mosaicists), often enticed from Italy, to France, all to enhance the nation's glory.

The most significant architectural endeavor at this time was the eastern extension of the Louvre, intended as the king's urban residence. The Louvre's construction history is intricate: originating as an early medieval turreted castle, it underwent gradual dismantling during building campaigns in the $16$th and early $17$th centuries. In $1546$, Pierre Lescot (d. $1578$) designed the southwest corner of the existing square court, which served as the anchor for later expansions. Jacques Lemercier ($1582-1654$) devised a more ambitious master plan in $1624$, doubling the building and adding a central pavilion, with the goal of forming a square interior court by joining northern and southern wings at the eastern end. Construction on the north wing basement halted in $1643$ upon Louis XIII's death.

Work recommenced in $1659$ as Louis XIV neared his ascension. The king's first architect, Louis Le Vau ($1612-70$), prepared a new design, leading to the completion of much of the south wing and the erection of foundations and a portion of the wall along the eastern ceremonial front. When Colbert took office, the situation rapidly changed.

The Louvre Designs: French vs. Bernini

Dissatisfied with Le Vau's design, Colbert began seeking alternatives privately as early as $1662$. Upon assuming his new post in $1664$, he solicited proposals from other French architects, including Jean Marot, Pierre Cottart, and François Mansart. Two schemes proved particularly influential:

1. Claude Perrault's design: Exhibited anonymously in Paris in $1664$, this design featured an open colonnade of Corinthian columns along the eastern front, a feature absent from Le Vau's plan. Claude Perrault ($1613-88$) was the older brother of Colbert's private secretary, Charles Perrault ($1628-1703$).
2. François Le Vau's design: Proposed by Louis Le Vau's younger brother, François Le Vau ($1613-76$), this scheme also presented a freestanding colonnade for the eastern facade, but with columns arranged in pairs.

In March $1664$, Colbert requested a proposal from the renowned Italian Baroque architect Gianlorenzo Bernini ($1598-1680$), which arrived in Paris in June. By December $1664$, Colbert evidently favored Bernini, asking him for a revised proposal and for him to travel from Rome to Paris. Bernini's celebrated, though costly, arrival in Paris on June $2$, $1665$, proved ultimately in vain. His revised design met with severe criticism from French architects and Colbert's secretary, Charles Perrault, and was eventually disregarded by the king. Construction of the east wing ceased in October shortly after Bernini's departure, languishing until spring $1667$.

The Petit Conseil and Claude Perrault's Ascent

In $1667$, Colbert appointed a new committee, a petit conseil, to reconsider the design and develop a new proposal. This committee consisted of three individuals: Charles Le Brun (the king's first painter), Louis Le Vau (still the king's first architect), and Claude Perrault, the author of the unsolicited $1664$ design. While historical consensus debates the full extent of Perrault's contribution to the final Louvre design (for which he later claimed sole credit), it is widely believed to have been a collaborative committee effort (Figures $2$ and $3$ illustrating the Louvre and its construction, including iron reinforcement bars).

Perrault's selection, despite his architectural inexperience, is partially attributed to the political influence of his younger brother and Colbert's desire for an influential voice on the committee. Perrault was a man of considerable stature beyond architecture. At $51$ years old when he proposed for the Louvre, he had shown no prior interest in architecture, save perhaps for alterations to his country house at Viry. He had obtained his medical degree from the Ecole de Médecine in $1642$ and lectured on anatomy and pathology for two decades, maintaining a small medical practice. His professional focus eventually shifted to scientific research, and he was a "consummate Cartesian" in his scientific outlook. His extensive scientific achievements included numerous anatomical dissections of animals from the royal menagerie, studies in botany, geology, and mechanics, and experiments on the speed of sound with Dutch physicist Christiaan Huygens. In $1666$, a year before his Louvre appointment, Perrault and Huygens were both elected to the first class of the Academy of Sciences, a prestigious appointment approved by Colbert, underscoring his recognized scientific prowess.

Perrault's Vitruvius Translation and Architectural Commissions

Claude Perrault also possessed a rare command of both Latin and Greek, a skill that likely proved invaluable when Colbert sought a translator for his state-sponsored translation of Vitruvius, probably in late $1666$. This project was undoubtedly conceived in conjunction with Colbert's plans for the future Academy of Architecture. Perrault's involvement in the translation apparently spurred or coincided with his burgeoning architectural interests. In late $1666$, he proposed an obelisk dedicated to Louis XIV. In spring $1667$, just weeks before the first Louvre building committee meeting, he was commissioned as the architect for the new Royal Observatory, a building destined to house the Academy of Sciences' meetings. These events highlight how Perrault, a leading scientific mind and classical scholar, became a pivotal figure in defining French architectural modernism.