Pierre Lepautre (1648–1716)

Who was Pierre Lepautre (1648–1716)?

Pierre Lepautre (1648–1716) was a French ornemaniste, a prolific designer of ornament that presages the coming Rococo style, and an engraver. He was the son of Jean Lepautre and brother of Antoine Lepautre. His appointment in 1699 as Dessinatueur in the Bâtiments du Roi, the official design department of the French monarchy, headed by Robert de Cotte in the declining years of Louis XIV, was signalled by the historian of the Rococo, Fiske Kimball, as a starting point in the genesis of the new style.