Libéral Bruant

Bruant was the most notable member in a family that produced a long series of architects active from the 16th to the 18th century.

[citation needed] In 1660, Bruant was the architect chosen for rehabilitations to Louis XIII's old arsenal (the Salpêtrière), which was being converted into what would become the world's largest hospice.

He designed the Hôtel des Invalides in Paris, which is now dominated by the dome erected by Jules Hardouin Mansart, his collaborator in earlier stages of the construction.

[1] In the Marais district of Paris, the hôtel particulier Bruant built for himself in 1685,[2] at 1 rue de la Perle now houses the Bricard Lock Museum (Musée de la Serrure).

[4] A comparison of Bruant's central entrance to the Invalides, under an arched cornice packed with military trophies with Mansart's Église du Dome, gives a clear idea of the difference between Bruant's High Baroque and Hardouin-Mansart's restrained and somewhat academic Late Baroque.