FRANCOIS DE

See also:

• FRANCOIS DE CUVILLES

CUVILLES  (1698-c . 1767); French architect and engraver . He helped to carry the French rococo taste to Germany—he was summoned about i 720 to Cologne by the elector James Clement; in 1738 he became architect to the elector of Bavaria, and afterwards occupied the same position towards the emperor Charles VII . His style, while essentially thin, is often painfully elaborate and bizarre . He designed mirrors and consoles, balustrades for staircases, ceilings and fireplaces, and in furniture, beds and commodes especially . He also laid out parks and gardens . He wrote several treatises on artistic and decorative subjects, which were edited by his son, Francois de Cuvilles the younger, who succeeded his father at the court of Munich .