The Rohan Palace in Strasbourg, one of the most beautiful architectural achievements of the French 18th centuryas much by the noble and classic elevation of its facades as by its sumptuous interior decorations, is the culmination of the meeting of two exceptional personalities: Cardinal Armand-Gaston de Rohan-SoubisePrince-Bishop of Strasbourg and brilliant man of the court on the one hand, as sponsor; Robert de Cotte, first architect of the king, on the other hand, as master builder. At the height of glory when he gave the plans for the Strasbourg palace, Robert de Cotte responded to the wishes of the prince by creating a masterful work uniting the ecclesiastical, political and worldly dimension of the function of prince-bishop, in the sense that the understood the 18th century, in the same building to the glory of the House of Rohan.
Just as the Palais Rohan is the result of a complicity and a common taste for building between the cardinal and the architect, this work is the result of a shared passion, that of a curator and a a photographer, for the architectural project. Marc Walter, fine connoisseur of the architecture of Robert de Cotte – he is among other things the author of an important monograph on Versailles published by Citadelles and Mazenod -, photographer experienced in the restitution of large residences, therefore joins Etienne Martin, curator the museum of decorative arts located in the Rohan palace in Strasbourg, for an intuitive walk through the building, alternating overviews and details.
Richly illustrated, the work published by the Museums of Strasbourg, is designed as a beautiful luxurious book paying a loving and educated tribute to the ambition and coherence of the project. Etienne Martin exposes the trajectory and the exceptional temperament of the two actors of the project and the political context in which it emerges, then details the architectural and decorative program, with a narrative and descriptive talent which make his text a marvelous and fascinating story.
France Bleu Elsass offers you this book “Le palais Rohan”
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