Louis-Pierre Baltard (; 9 July 1764 – 22 January 1846) was a French

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

, and engraver and father of

Victor Baltard Victor Baltard (; 9 June 180513 January 1874) was a French architect famed for work in Paris including designing Les Halles market and the Saint-Augustin church. Life Victor was born in Paris, son of architect Louis-Pierre Baltard and attended ...

Life

He was born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. He was originally a landscape painter, but in his travels through

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

was struck with the beauty of the Italian buildings, and changed his profession, devoting himself to architecture.Puylaroque, Thérèse de
"Pierre Baltard, peintre, architecte & graveur, 1764-1846: biographie raisonnée et catalogue sommaire"
/ref> In his new occupation he achieved great success, and was selected to prepare the plans for some of the largest public edifices in

. His reputation is chiefly based on his skill in engraving. Among the best known of his plates are the drawings of Paris (''Paris et ses monuments'', 1803), the engravings for Denon's ''Égypte'', the illustrations of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

's wars (''La Colonne de la grande armée''), and those contained in the series entitled the ''Grand prix de l'architecture'', which for some time he carried on alone. He also gained distinction as an engraver of portraits. The Palais de Justice in Lyon are his most notable project. Baltard died, aged 81, in Lyon.

Family

Two of his children were also architects. Of these the more important was Victor Baltard, who designed

Les Halles Les Halles (; 'The Halls') was Paris' central fresh food market. It last operated on 12 January 1973 and was replaced by an underground shopping centre and a park. The unpopular modernist development was demolished yet again in 2010, and replac ...

Saint-Augustin, Paris The Église Saint-Augustin de Paris (; English: Church of St. Augustine) is a Catholic church located at 46 boulevard Malesherbes in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. The church was built between 1860 and 1871 by the Paris city chief architect Vic ...

, and the facade of Notre-Dame-des-Blancs-Manteaux.

Architectural works

Louis-Pierre Baltard and Jean-Baptiste Rondelet were candidates in the competition to transform the Panthéon de Paris into the « temple de la Gloire ». In 1813, on the death of

Alexandre Théodore Brongniart Alexandre may refer to: * Alexandre (given name) * Alexandre (surname) * Alexandre (film) See also * Alexander * Alexandra (disambiguation) * Xano (disambiguation) Xano is the name of: * Xano, a Portuguese hypocoristic of the name " Alexandre (di ...

, Baltard proposed to undertake the building of the Palais Brongniart, but was unsuccessful. * The Palais de Justice in Lyon * Chapel of the

prison Sainte-Pélagie A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where people are imprisoned under the authority of the state, usually as punishment for various crim ...

, Paris. * Hospital and chapel of the

prison Saint-Lazare Saint-Lazare Prison was a prison in the 10th arrondissement of Paris, France. It existed from 1793 until 1935 and was housed in a former motherhouse of the Congregation of the Mission, Vincentians. History in the 12th century a Leper colony, ...

, Paris (1834) * Prison Saint-Joseph, Perrache Lyon (1836) * Palais de Justice (nicknamed « Les 24 colonnes »), Lyon, on the quays of the river Saône (1842)

References

;Attribution * {{DEFAULTSORT:Baltard, Louis 1764 births 1846 deaths Painters from Paris Academic staff of École Polytechnique 18th-century French engravers 19th-century French engravers 19th-century French male artists 18th-century French painters 19th-century French painters 19th-century French architects Knights of the Legion of Honour Academic staff of the École des Beaux-Arts 18th-century French male artists