Robert de Cotte
architect and decorator; b. 1656 (at Paris); d. July 14, 1735.
Robert was the son or grandson of Fremin de Cotte, architect of King Louis XIII, who served as engineer at the siege of La Rochelle (1627-1628). He was a pupil of Jules Hardouin-Mansart, whose wife's sister he married. Mansart confided to him the direction of the works at the Invalides and other important, buildings. He was made a member of the Académie Royale d'Architecture in 1687 and architecte du roi in 1689. Between 1700 and 1702 he directed, under the supervision of Mansart, the works at the Hôtel de Ville at Lyons, France. About 1707 he rebuilt the central tower of the cathedral of Orléans. At the death of Mansart in 1708 he succeeded him as premier architecte du roi. The portal of the church of S. Roche (Paris) was designed by Robert in 1734, and finished by his son Jules Robert de Cotte. Robert de Cotte built the peristyle of the Grand Trianon at Versailles. He made designs for the royal palace and Buen-Retiro at Madrid.
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1687.09.26 explosion of the Parthenon
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