BROSSE, SALOMON DE

(1571-1626)

   French architect related to Jean du Cerceau. De Brosse is credited with introducing classicism to French architecture. Unlike du Cerceau, who conceived his buildings in terms of textural decoration, de Brosse thought in terms of mass. His most notable commission was the Luxembourg Palace in Paris (beg. 1615), which he received from Marie de' Medici. Marie asked her aunt, the Grand Duchess of Tuscany, to send her the plans for the Palazzo Pitti in Florence, where she grew up, to be used as the model for de Brosse's project. Marie circulated the plans throughout European courts for comments, but, in the end, de Brosse did not follow the Italian palace design. Instead, he built a typical French château type. The building features a corps-des-logis (main body) flanked by two wings, and a screen that encloses the central court. This resulted in a completely symmetrical and logical design. Only the heavy rustications on the façade recall Bartolomeo Ammannati's Mannerist rustications of the Palazzo Pitti. The rest of the structure is completely classical. Its massive arches, coupled by the rustications, create a masculine architecture that speaks of monarchic power.