de L’Orme, Philibert(between 1505 and 1510 – 1570 )
Heliocoidal staircase in perspective, Attributed to Philibert de L’Orme, archive, c. 1505 – 1568 ,
Musée du Louvre, INV 11114 , recto, 38.224.3cm, Brown ink, black lead, feather penPhilibert de L’Orme may have been the first Frenchman to achieve the stature of architect in the mod-
ern sense, but he was profoundly located in the sixteenth century. de L’Orme visited Italy to draw and
measure antiquity carrying much of what he learned back to France. Subsequently, he was the first
French architect to consciously employ Renaissance ideals in his architecture. He was born in Lyon,
somewhere between the years 1505 and 1510 , into a family of master masons. In addition to learning
skills in masonry, crucial to his education were his visits to the south of France and Italy to study
antiquity, the most significant being his trip to Rome from 1533 to 1536.
His first significant commission came from Cardinal Jean du Bellay to design the Château St.
Maur-lès-Fossés, where he was able to exhibit his knowledge of classical principles. In this case, his
challenge was to bring classical architecture to France while accommodating local materials and
traditions. The result was a plan somewhat French, incorporating classical Corinthian pilasters and
ornament. By 1550 de L’Orme, then living in Paris, was placed in charge of all the royal buildings
(except the Louvre) by Henry II. Examples of his numerous other architectural projects include
Château Neuf, the chapel in Château Anet, and the bridge gallery across the Cher at Chenonceaux.
This spiral staircase (Figure 1.6) delineated in a confident hand is attributed to de L’Orme.^2 It is likely
that he is the author, considering the many staircases known to be designed by him, that show similar
technique. In the case that it is not, the image remains a compelling example, contemplating the diffi-
culties for architects in visualizing a complex architectural element. The importance of this image for
the Italian school in France comes from a reference in his treatises, Nouvelles Inventions pour bien bastir et
à petits Fraizand Le premier tôme de l’Architecture, that refers to Bramante’s spiral staircase in the Belvedere.
In chapter nineteen, de L’Orme states that bases and capitals of the columns should follow the sloping
entablature, rather than be placed horizontally as in Bramante’s design, and that architects should use
coffering instead of brick on the underside of the vault (Blunt, 1958 ).
The technique of this sketch shows it was drawn primarily in single line. Each line seems ren-
dered with slow precision. Although he was speculating on a three-dimensional view, there is very
little use of shadow or texture. There are no perspective guidelines or evidence of orthographic
construction.
Although de L’Orme was undoubtedly familiar with current development in perspective con-
struction, this image has been drawn entirely freehand. To delineate it accurately would have been
an extremely time-consuming endeavor. It is a very clear three-dimensional rendition presenting
enough detail to visualize the complex stair. A spiral stair is very difficult to imagine, even more dif-
ficult to draw, and is very hard to explain to someone else. With this in mind, he may have felt the
perspective complete (believable) enough that he started to detail the coffers and railings, even
though they still appear rough and not consistent with the intended view. He was not worried that
it was imperfectly constructed, but rather believed in the information he was receiving, and thus
trusted in the power of the sketch. With the addition of letters inscribed on certain material sur-
faces, this image may have also been trusted enough to build from.H5719-Ch01.qxd 7/15/05 3:18 PM Page 35