A very rare letter from the great architect Jacques-Germain SOUFFLOT. 1768.

Jacques-Germain SOUFFLOT (1713-1780)

Autograph letter signed to the Marquis de Marigny.

One folio page. Remnant of wax seal in the upper left corner.

Paris, May 12, 1768

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" Sir, I received on the seventh of this month a letter that you did me the honor ofconcerningwriting what is being built to connect Mr.Coustou's with what remained of the portions that were cut down for the enlargement of the square : as the main work is advanced I am going to havetogiveyouthe measurement recognized, ; as for the interior adjustments, Mr. Coustouhasfor will make them at his ownexpensealways done in the rest of the house, as you saw,Sir, from the state he had given when you wanted to house him at the.Beuvron hotel

With regard to her brother, I was quite sure that he was not capable of giving rise to the phrase of Md^me de Malesherbes as she had itwritten ;the honor of seeing her as soon ascouldI ; ,,she had the honor of telling me that she had not seenCoustou for severalMr.and years : but that the Swisshad told her that on a requesthe had made forreparations,, he hadrepliedthat large ones would only be made when a new chancellor came to the hotelthatin order not tocutthis report she had put the words which have, with good reason, given you cause to believe that Mr. Coustouhadher , he is not only incapable of it nor of the remark which has been attributed to him; Md.^de Malesherbes was very angryaboutthe reproaches which she causedhim ; as well as Mr. de Malesherbes who promised him that he would cometosee you and certify to youthat all this was only a misunderstanding based on a report devoid of truth and accuracy.

I remain, with profound respect, Sir, your most humble and obedient servant. Soufflot. Paris, May 12, 1768."

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As Superintendent of the King's Buildings, Marigny was a great builder during the reign of Louis XV and a fervent promoter of architectural neoclassicism. Thanks to Soufflot, he helped transform the face of the capital, notably by creating new squares. The architect and the superintendent addressed a hygiene problem while simultaneously beautifying the capital.

Neglected in favor of Versailles, the Louvre was in a state of advanced disrepair by the mid-18th century. To address the growing criticism, Marigny did not remain idle: he expelled all the squatters who had taken up residence in the Cour Carrée and had the buildings demolished. On the other side, in the Place du Louvre, between the colonnade and Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois, he cleared the façade by demolishing what remained of the Hôtel du Petit-Bourbon and all the other adjacent buildings. (These works were immortalized in Demachy's paintings.) It is these works, and the Place du Louvre, that are discussed in this letter. The workshop of Nicolas Coustou, the renowned sculptor of the Marly horses, was destroyed at this time.

With Coustou's workshops demolished, Marigny planned to rebuild other workshops for this sculptor of the Academy on the site of the gardens of the Hôtel de Beuvron and Hôtel Rouillé. The king having granted the Countess of Séran the use of the Hôtel de Beuvron in January 1768, Marigny had already been tasked with its complete restoration and decoration.

The second part of the letter concerns Charles-Pierre Coustou, Guillaume's brother, the king's architect and lawyer. Soufflot tries to explain to Marigny that the disagreement between Coustou and Mme de Malesherbes is the result of a misunderstanding, and that Coustou's offensive remarks have been distorted.

The inventory after Soufflot's death was carried out on September 7, 1780 by Charles-Pierre Coustou.