| Summary: | In the government of Louis XV, from 1730, Philibert Orry de Vignory, originally from Champagne, occupied a prominent place, first as the Controller-General of Finances, and then from 1737 as director of Bâtiments. Rigorous financial management, supported by tax reform and enhanced trade enabled Orry to quickly balance the state’s budget. These same skills deployed in the arts sector led to various welcome measures, including the reorganization of the Académie de France à Rome and the reopening of the annual Salon at the Louvre. Royal works thus offered artists the means of developing the contemporary rocaille trend. However Orry’s arts administration seems to have initiated contradictory initiatives: innovative royal projects and stringent controls on students, gradually suffocating all creative spirit. Study of the collections in the director’s château in La Chapelle-Godefroy in Champagne shows wise, elegant choices, confirming that the innovative impetus was from the king. Orry did not try to give artists from Champagne a special place in private or public commissions; if we look around his network of friendships and connections, the protection of Cardinal Fleury, from a family in Lodève, and his strong ties with Rigaud point more towards friendships Orry made in the Languedoc when he successfully occupied the position of intendant of the Roussillon.
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