c. 1736

Perspective Drawing of the Interior of a Cathedral

In this interior view of the Church of the Invalides, a Baroque masterpiece by Jules Hardouin-Mansart (1646-1708), the artist concentrated on accurately rendering the perspective from a slightly oblique angle. Although Cochin's father is known to have executed the drawings for the plates in Granet's history of the church, the younger Cochin may have done this particular one, since it was never published and has survived as part of his portfolio. Cochin encouraged students to study both perspective and architecture, and praised the portraitist Maurice Quentin de La Tour (1704-1788) for establishing academic prizes in these areas.