BRUAND, Libéral
(b. ca. 1635, d. 1697, Paris)

Exterior view

1671-79
Photo
Les Invalides, Paris

Libéral Bruand, the most distinguished member of the Bruand architect family, never attained the success which his talent merited, and only secured one of the many public commissions of the day, namely the building of the Invalides. The vast construction, planned to house disabled soldiers, was begun in 1671 and was sufficiently advanced to receive its first inmates by 1674, though it was not completed until 1679 by which time Bruand had been replaced by Hardouin-Mansart who was responsible for the chapel and domed church added in 1676-91.

The main buildings were designed in the form of a grid. The external elevations are undistinguished, but the arcaded courts have a severe gravity reminiscent of a Roman aqueduct.

The photo shows the north front of the Invalides: Hardouin-Mansart's dome above Bruand's pedimented central block.

View the plan of the Hôtel des Invalides.