Plusieurs Amphitheatres et Cascades a l’usage de Jardins

Jean-François de Neufforge (1714-1791)

Flemish architect and engraver. He arrived in Paris c. 1738 and studied engraving with Pierre Edmé Babel and architecture with Jacques-François Blondel. His style was formed while engraving plates for Julien-David Le Roy’s book Les Ruines des plus beaux monuments de la Grèce (Paris, 1758).

Neufforge’s importance rests on his Recueil élémentaire d’architecture (1757–68, 1772–80), an immense publication containing some 900 architectural engravings, nearly all of which were not only designed but also engraved by Neufforge himself. It is a traditional architect’s pattern-book but is of unprecedented scope, containing virtually every type of civic and domestic building then known, including such structures as prisons and lighthouses that had only recently been considered worthy of an architect’s attention. In addition, it covers such topics as interior decoration, gardens and methods of construction. In his designs for domestic architecture, Neufforge included models to suit every level of patron, from the most modest to the most aristocratic. The designs draw both on antiquity and the High Renaissance, and the Recueil was extensively used as a source-book throughout the late 18th century.

Copperplate engraving on laid paper. Engraved signature, address and service to the Roi in bottom margin.

Dimensions: 9 ¾” x 15 ½” 

Condition: excellent bright impression.

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