In an effort to establish his architectural career, Lequeu courted aristocratic clients with designs for country residences in the waning moments of the ancien régime. Construction began on a villa in Rouen for one patron, Louis-Jacques Grossin, comte de Bouville, but the project was halted by the revolution and the count’s flight from France. That this intimate villa was conceived as a Temple of Silence is indicated by the figure of Harpocrates, the Hellenistic god of secrets, in the tympanum. The design was included in an 1813 publication on civil architecture by Lequeu’s friend Jean-Charles Krafft, suggesting contemporary awareness of the artist’s work.
Jean-Jacques Lequeu (1757–1826)
Façade of a Pleasure Palace, Called the Temple of Silence, 1788
Pen and black ink, brown wash, watercolor
Bibliothèque nationale de France, Departement des Estampes et de la photographie
Jennifer Tonkovich: Early in his career, Lequeu used his connections in Rouen to seek private patronage and generate commissions. He befriended a local aristocrat, the Count of Bouville, and in 1780 to '82, when Lequeu was roughly 24 years old, he claimed to have taken a trip to Italy with his patron. The evidence is a diary of the trip later produced by Lequeu, although scholars argue that it's equally likely the diary was a fabrication, and Lequeu never left France. Lequeu's written log outlines their fictional voyage. They depart Paris, pass through Lyon and the south of France, before arriving in Genoa. From there, they embark on a whirlwind tour of Italy's picturesque destinations, visiting Pisa, Florence, Rome, Naples, Bologna, Venice, Padua, Milan, and Turin, before returning home. Lequeu's entries describe their avid sightseeing and offer useful advice regarding how many days were needed to see each city and its highlights, how to get around, and what a decent room for the night might cost. Here's a passage from one of his entries in Rome. "In the Strada della Croce is a hostel, where it's very lovely to stay. You pay eight sol a day and you eat at the communal table. In Rome, there are people and books which inform travelers about the interesting things to see, and there are a greater number of them here than anywhere. For 30 sol, you can get a guide to each palace." Lequeu may have had nostalgia for the idea of a Roman holiday, as a few years later it would be untenable to travel with an aristocratic patron such as Bouville, whose career was suspended with the Revolution in 1789, and only resumed after the downfall of Napoleon in 1815.