Cotte, Robert de

Cotte, Robert de (1657–1735). French architect and urban planner, probably the most influential of Rococo designers during the Régence. Brother-in-law and pupil-assistant of Hardouin-Mansart, he promoted French architecture throughout Europe, notably in the German-speaking lands. He succeeded Hardouin-Mansart as Premier Architecte in 1709, and carried out his first independent work, the Hôtel du Lude, Paris, in the following year (destroyed 1861). He designed the Hôtel d'Éstrées, rue de Grenelle, Paris (1711–13—a Palladian composition), and the episcopal palaces at Châlons-sur-Marne (1719–20—not completed), Verdun (1724–35—altered in execution), and Strasbourg ( Palais Rohan (1727–42—a fine example of the noble simplicité of C18 French Rococo). His façade of the Church of St-Roche, Paris (1728–38), completed one of the city's great basilicas. His designs for the Thurn und Taxis palace, Frankfurt-am-Main (1727–36—partly destroyed), Schloss Clemensruhe, Poppelsdorf, Bonn (1715–18), and the Electoral Palace, Bonn (1713–23), deserve mention. He was also consulted about the designs of Schloss Brühl, Schloss Schleissheim, and the Residenz (Seat of the Court), Würzburg, but his influence there was of little account.

Bibliography

J-F. Blondel (1752–6);
Kalnein & and Levey (1972);
Neuman (1994)