Ground Plan for the Hotel de la Rochefoucauld Doudeauville and its Garden, Paris

Jean Jacques Huvé

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Built in 1732 by the architect Jean-Sylvain Cartaud, the palatial Parisian residence at 65 rue de Varenne underwent various renovations over the next two hundred years, as ownership and fashions changed. This ground plan of the house and gardens was drawn up by the architect Huvé, who was hired by the vicomte de Rochefoucauld to make adjustments to the building for his sister-in-law, the comtesse de la Suze, who resided there. Huvé trained in the tradition of the Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio, whose influence can be noted in the strictly symmetrical arrangement of the rooms. In addition, Huvé was probably responsible for the small belvedere in the back of the garden, which follows Palladian principles in its design.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.

Metropolitan Museum of Art