Louis-Pierre Baltard

{{Short description|French architect and engraver (1764–1846)}} {{Infobox architect | name = Louis-Pierre Baltard | image = Louis-Pierre Baltard.jpg | image_size =  | alt = a bust of Louis-Pierre Baltard | caption = A bust of Louis-Pierre Baltard by Eugène Guillaume (1873), courtesy of the musée d'Orsay | birth_name =  | birth_date = {{Birth date|1764|07|09|df=y}} | birth_place = Paris | death_date = {{Death date and age|1846|01|22|1764|07|09|df=y}} | death_place = Lyon | alma_mater = | spouse = | partner = | children = Victor Baltard | parents = | awards = | practice = | significant_buildings = Palais de justice historique de Lyon | significant_projects = | significant_design = }} '''Louis-Pierre Baltard''' ({{IPA|fr|lwi pjɛʁ baltaʁ}}; 9 July 1764 – 22 January 1846) was a French architect, and engraver and father of Victor Baltard.

==Life== thumb|left|300px|The Palais de Justice in Lyon He was born in Paris. He was originally a landscape painter, but in his travels through Italy was struck with the beauty of the Italian buildings, and changed his profession, devoting himself to architecture.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}<ref>Puylaroque, Thérèse de. [http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=no%3A470162632 "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 Paris. 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'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.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}<ref name="curl">{{cite book |last1=Curl |first1=James Stevens |title=Oxford Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture |date=1999 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-860678-9|edition=2}}</ref>

The Palais de Justice in Lyon are his most notable project.<ref name="penguin">{{cite book |last1=Fleming |first1=John |last2=Honour |first2=Hugh |last3=Pevsner |first3=Nikolaus |title=The Penguin Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture |date=1998 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=0-14-051323-X|page=39 |edition=5}}</ref>

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

==See also== {{commons category|Louis-Pierre Baltard}} * List of works by Eugène Guillaume

==References== {{reflist}} '''Attribution:''' *{{EB1911|wstitle=Baltard, Louis Pierre|volume=3|page=286}}

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