Empire's Architectural History
Empire Neoclassicism architecture is the offspring of Pierre-François-Léonard Fonatine and Charles Percier collaboration. The two men became partners before and were during Napoleon Bonaparte's reign as Emperor of France. From 1790 - 1814 the gentlemen were responsible for style that has been characterized as taking an archeological approach to the Greek style rather than the Roman, a mixture of French and Italian Renaissance along with Egyptian motifs. It is common to find a regular use of mahogany and ormolu in their work.
In 1804 the partners were made official government architects and decorators, spreading their style across the royal and lavish residences of the diplomats and royalty. Examples of this style still in existence are found in the Opéra in Paris, the library, music room, and bedroom at the Château of Malmaison outside of Paris, Gabinete de platino in the Casa del Labrado on the grounds of the Aranjuez palace outside Madrid, the colonnades, courtyard facades, and museum rooms of the Louvre palace. Although their work was far more outspread throughout France, as others would take it on and continue the style, only small evidences remain as France was in a revolutionary state.
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The use of ornament goes back to the time when the Greeks ruled the known world. We inspired our designs from the grand palaces of Versailles, Fontianebleau, Windsor Castle and the ruins of Pompeii. So many of the creations were designed and crafted by those whose names shall forever remain unknown. Our desire is to make any room, or part thereof, transformed into a timeless work of art. We will create for you a living space that celebrates fine decoration. Our ornament can be styled and worked using the same tools used for wood ornament. The specially mixed materials we use to cast our ornament allows them varying degrees of bending and flexibility. Since every individual room has unique needs we also offer a special material for more extreme bending requirements.
From 1798 forward, Fonatine and Percier had many publications that enabled them to dictate the style they had put into place. Emphasizing beauty through history without compromising on the day's conveniences, the two set about teaching the current workforce the style they had made popular by including plates, models and engravings for others to perpetuate with consistency throughout France, Italy and England. "Recueil de décorations intérieures" contains 72 plates demonstrating the author's work in all motifs. There are instructions for the furniture and interior decorations for the different levels of society. Their publication gives precise details down to the placement of where items should go leaving a beautiful blueprint for the designers to follow.
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