Adam Perelle

Adam Perelle (1640-1695) was an influential Parisian printmaker and draftsman of the French Baroque period, specializing in the meticulous documentation of the era's grand architectural and landscape designs. Born in Paris, he was the son of the esteemed engraver Gabriel Perelle and the younger brother of Nicolas, together forming a prolific artistic dynasty active across the latter half of the seventeenth century. Perelle inherited a tradition that placed technical precision and topographical accuracy at the forefront of his work, resulting in a distinct, albeit concise, body of published materials, including approximately thirteen known prints and two illustrated volumes.

Perelle’s primary significance rests on his visual record of the Château de Richelieu in Poitou. This complex, commissioned by Cardinal Richelieu, was far more than a private residence; it was a demonstration of absolute political power translated into classical architectural form, serving as a critical precursor to the scale of Versailles. Perelle’s engraved series provides an invaluable, comprehensive account of this monumental, now-vanished site. Works such as Le Château de Richelieu en Poictou du Côté de l'Entrée and the expansive Veüe generale en Perspective du Château Bassecourt, Anticours, Jardins, &c. de Richelieu document the precise layout of the château, the expansive hydraulic features, and the highly ordered French formal gardens.

The sheer ambition of the subject matter demanded a sophisticated handling of perspective, which Adam Perelle achieved with remarkable clarity. His careful delineation preserved the integrity of the design, ensuring that posterity retains a crystalline view of this seventeenth-century ‘Ville Idéale.’ The Perelles were, in essence, creating the first museum-quality architectural catalogs of the age, distributing the visual statements of the aristocratic elite across Europe. Today, these historically important documents, often recognized as seminal Adam Perelle prints, are held in leading global collections, including the Rijksmuseum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Their status as works now residing in the public domain ensures that researchers and enthusiasts worldwide have access to these high-quality prints for study and preservation.