Background
Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine was born on the 20th of September, 1762 in Pontoise, canton of Pontoise, France.
Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine was born on the 20th of September, 1762 in Pontoise, canton of Pontoise, France.
Percier and his collegue Fontaine became acquainted with each other while both were studying architecture in Paris. Percier won the Prix de Rome in 1786 and spent the following years studying in Rome with Fontaine, who became his lifelong friend. They returned to Paris in 1790 and set up their own practice; their work eventually attracted the attention of Josephine Bonaparte, Napoleon’s wife, and she engaged them to renovate her Château de Malmaison (1800–02). From then on the Bonapartes became their principal patrons.
Since 1807, Percier was the first architect and one of the tastemakers during the Napoleonic period. He became famous as an architect in the creation of the Louvre and the Tuileries, as well as the Arc de Triomphe in Carrousel Square in Paris. He restored such palaces as: the Louvre, the Tuileries and Versailles, as well as the hospital in Pontoise. Together with Charles Percier made a great contribution to the historiography of art, publishing in 1807 and 1810 descriptions of court ceremonies and festivals of Napoleonic time. The best furniture in Empire styleIn was made in France according to the sketches of Fontaine.
