Overview

The Louvre, the Place Royale (now the Place des Vosges), the Place and rue Dauphine, the Pont Neuf and the Hopital Saint Louis were part of a building programme initiated by Henry IV that would be unmatched in Paris for more than two centuries. Drawing on notarial archives in Paris's Minutier central, Hilary Ballon provides an account of the crucial period between 1605 and 1610 when Paris was transformed from a medieval city decimated by war and neglect into a modern capital.

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9780262521970

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"""King Henri IV of France... was not interested in courtly splendor, orbooks, or the arts; he was notoriously averse to spending money, even on hismistresses. But when it came to embellishing Paris, nothing was too good forhim. Henri first entered the city as its sovereign after several sieges andhalf a century of civil wars, What he found was a decaying and ravaged medievalhodge-podge. By the time he died, in 1610, he had transformed it into one ofthe great European capitals. Just how he did this is the fascinating (and stillrelevant) story that Hilary Ballon tells in her admirably documented book."" Olivier Bernier, Wall Street Journal"

This delightful book elegantly documents Henri IV's architectural programs of 1605-10 ... and helps us understand the surprisingly gentle humanity and charm that those urban groupings possess. --The New Yorker King Henri IV of France ... was not interested in courtly splendor, or books, or the arts; he was notoriously averse to spending money, even on his mistresses. But when it came to embellishing Paris, nothing was too good for him. Henri first entered the city as its sovereign after several sieges and half a century of civil wars, What he found was a decaying and ravaged medieval hodge-podge. By the time he died, in 1610, he had transformed it into one of the great European capitals. Just how he did this is the fascinating (and still relevant) story that Hilary Ballon tells in her admirably documented book. --Olivier Bernier, Wall Street Journal

Author Information

Hilary Ballon is Professor of Renaissance and Baroque art and architecture, American architecture and urbanism at Columbia University.

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