LOUIS, Victor
(b. 1731, Paris, d. ca. 1800, Paris)

Exterior view

1777-80
Photo
Hôtel de l'Intendance, Besançon

Victor Louis developed his characteristic picturesque style and his particular feeling for theatrical effects during his four-year stay in Rome. His Hôtel de l'Intendance in Besançon followed the usual pattern of a "cour d'honneur" screened from the street and semi-circular on one side. Continuous Ionic pilasters, which become engaged two-thirds columns in front of the elongated, pedimented centrepiece of the court façade, evenly divide the "corps-de-logis," which has a rectangular ground plan. The wall surfaces are mainly taken up by large, rectangular windows. On the garden side, the domed centre salon forms a convex projection. The delicate surface treatment of the façades with fluted pilasters, a continuous, uninterrupted entablature and festoon reliefs over the ground floor apertures is characteristic of Louis's decorative touch, but also strikes a traditional note.

The photo shows the court façade.




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