Courtonne, Jean

views updated

Courtonne, Jean (1671–1739). French architect. His Hôtel de Noirmoutier and Hôtel de Matignon, Paris (both 1720–4), are models of elegance and restraint. They have continuous astylar wall-surfaces punctuated by tall windows (some with semicircular and others with segmental heads). His chief importance lies in his treatise on architectural perspective, published in 1725, which also contained numerous remarks on architecture, including his insistence that the exterior of a building should be derived from the forms of the interior.

Bibliography

Courtonne (1725);
Hautecœur (1950);
Kalnein & and Levey (1972)