Guiffrey, Jules [Marie-Joseph]

Date born:   1840

Place Born:   Paris, France

Date died:   1918

Place died:   Paris, France

Administrator and historian of tapestries and 17th and 18th century French art. Guiffrey studied law and paleography. In 1866, he was appointed Keeper of the Archives Nationale, where he worked until 1893. While working at the Archives, Guiffrey became the editor of the publications of the Société de l'Art Francais, renaiming them Nouvelles archives de l'art francais. He contributed articles on a wide range of topics to dozens of scholarly journals, including the Gazette des beaux-arts and the Bulletin de la Société des antiquaires. In 1881, Guiffrey published Comptes des Batiments du roi sous le regne de Louis XIV, the first of two important works on 17th and 18th century French painting. The second book, Inventaire général du mobilier de la couronne sous Louis XIV (1885-6), was a compilation of Paris Salon exhibition catalogues. Guiffrey was appointed director of the Mobilier National in 1893, where he worked until 1908. LMW

Home Country:  Ukraine/France

Sources:  Bazin 482, The Dictionary of Art

Bibliography:  Inv. Gén. du mobilier de la Couronne sous Louis XIV. 2 vols. Paris, 1885-1886.
L'Histoire générale de la tapisserie. 3 vols. 1880.