Shortly before or in the year 1559, and with the support of King Henry II, Jacques Androuet du Cerceau agreed to design “the most beautiful houses of France.” In doing so he created a master work, published here in its entirety, and in colour, for the very first time.
The one hundred and sixteen designs which he has drawn on vellum – better than the two volumes of prints dedicated to Catherine de Medici, who had backed his enterprise from the start – are unquestionably the work of a brilliant (...)