Guillaume-Joseph Grelot
{{Short description|17th-century French Old Masters artist (1630–1680)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name = Guillaume-Joseph Grelot
|image = Chardin, Sir John (1643-1713). Auteur du texte.jpg
|caption = Grelot (bottom-right) can be seen in front of the Gate of Xerxes in Persepolis.
|office =
|term_start =
|term_end =
|party =
|birth_place = Likely Paris, Kingdom of France
|death_date = 1680―1683
|death_place = Likely Paris, Kingdom of France
|restingplace =
}}
Guillaume-Joseph Grelot (c. 1630 ― 1680s) was a 17th-century French Old Masters artist. A large majority of his works were dedicated to King Louis XIV. His etchings were based on architecture and ruins he viewed in Constantinople, i.e. Istanbul of the Ottoman Empire. He is said to have continued the works of Pierre Gilles.{{cite web |title=GRELOT, Guillaume Joseph. Relation nouvelle d’un voyage de Constantinople. Enrichie de plans levez par l’auteur sur les lieux…, [Paris, Veuve Damien Foucault/Pierre Rocolet, 1680]. |url=https://www.laskaridisfoundation.org/en/ |publisher=Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation |access-date=June 7, 2024 |date=2014}} He published a book of his etchings and travels in 1680.{{cite web |author1=Guillaume-Joseph Grelot |title=Relation nouvelle d'un voyage de Constantinople : enrichie de plans levez par l'auteur sur les lieux, & des figures de tout ce qu'il y a de plus remarquable dans cette ville |url=https://archive.org/details/gri_relationnouv00grel/mode/2up |website=Internet Archive |publisher=En la boutique de Pierre Rocolet |access-date=June 7, 2024 |date=1680}}
Biography
Prior to arriving in Istanbul, Grelot traveled with French merchant Jean Chardin, whom he met in Paris, to Persia in 1671.{{cite web |author1=Jean Chardin |title=Guillaume-Joseph Grelot taking heights at the Gate of Xerxes (Chardin, 1711, vol. 3, plate 56) (Source: Bibliothèque nationale de France, Gallica) |url=https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Guillaume-Joseph-Grelot-taking-heights-at-the-Gate-of-Xerxes-Chardin-1711-vol-3_fig2_362974590 |website=ResearchGate |publisher=Bibliothèque nationale de France |access-date=January 7, 2025 |date=1711}}
Grelot's 1680 book confirms that he was alive up until that point. This is the common belief of when he passed away. This is despite the case that a second edition was published in 1681 that make no comment on whether he is alive or dead. However, a 1683 edition translated to English by a man known as John Philips mentions in the attestations within the introduction-
"I should be [very unjust], [should] I [refuse Monsieur] Grelot my approbation of [those] excellent delineations which he is now making [public] to the world."{{cite web |author1=Guillaume Joseph Grelot |title=A late voyage to Constantinople:... |url=https://archive.org/details/39020024845961-alatevoyagetoco/page/n19/mode/2up?view=theater |website=Internet Archive |publisher=John Playford |access-date=January 7, 2025 |date=1683}}
Referring to Grelot in the present tense hints at the fact that he is still alive at the time of publishing. However, this cannot be considered completely certain.
Gallery
File:Guillaume-Joseph Grelot 001.JPG|Panoramic view of the Topkapi Palace from the Golden Horn, ca. 1672
File:Guillaume-Joseph Grelot 002.JPG|View of Constantinople, with the Topkapi Palace and the Beylerbeyi Palace across from it, ca. 1672
References
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Category:Year of birth uncertain
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