• Laurent (draughtsman)
• Georges Louis Leclerc, comte de Buffon (intendant)
• Laurent (architect)

Project for a medical amphitheatre in the Jardin royal des plantes, Paris

ca. 1744

- DR1962:0006 shows a perspective view of a portion of a formal garden terrace laid out symmetrically before a three-storey circular structure. The terrace, which is approached on axis by two steps flanked by sculpted river allegories, is centred on a circular basin and backed by a wall surmounted by potted plants, mostly palm trees and pineapple plants; the middle section of the rear wall curves back concentric to the terrace basin. Beyond the terrace wall and on line with the steps and basin rises the circular structure. With its Corinthian peristyle, this structure has the form of an antique circular temple, such as the so-called "Temple of Vesta" at Tivoli (first century B.C.). Unlike such classical models, however, the columns of the peristyle are set on tall rusticated pedestals that flare outward as they descend to the ground, the entablature carries a balustrade topped by a series of sculpted figures, and the whole is crowned by a tall, slender lantern (although no dome is visible). Within the peristyle, the inner wall is opened regularly by two storeys of windows, each with its own frame and pediment. The overall effect of this structure is not dissimilar to that of James Gibb's Radcliffe Camera, Oxford (1739-49).
- In the foreground of DR1962:0006 appear two groups of figures: that on the left consisting of two gardeners carrying a potted pineapple plant, and that on the right consisting of a seated woman attended by a man, a woman (the latter shading her mistress with a parasol), and a figure, apparently a physician, who offers the seated woman a bowl of fruit.

• presentation drawing (proposal)

Pen and black ink with black and grey wash, over graphite

sheet: 30.4 x 45.1 cm

DR1962:0006

• rendering

• exterior perspective
• one-point perspective (drawing)

Old fold from t. to b., centre of sheet.

inscribed - by the draughtsman, in pen and black ink, l.l.: "Laurent architectus Trecensis" inscribed - in another hand ? in pen and black ink, directly following: "invenit delineavit. 1738." inscribed - by the draughtsman, in pen and brown ink, b.: "Elevation Perspective des Amphitheatres du Jardin Royal des plantes pour servir a demontrer la Botanie, l'anatomie et autres / Parties de la Medecine tant dans le Jardin que dans la Rotonde" inscribed - in a modern hand, in graphite, verso, l.l.: "20 / Laurent (illegible)", l.r.: "55 x 40 / Laurent / (illegible)"

• architecture
• landscape architecture