GERMAIN, PIERRE

born 1645, Paris, France died 1684, Paris first notable member of a distinguished family of Parisian silversmiths. Germain was the son of a silversmith and at the age of 17 was presented to Louis XIV. He was admitted as a master in the guild in 1669. In 1677 he made an ornate frame for a portrait of the king, notable for its flattery of the monarch in its reliefs and inscription. He was given apartments in the Louvre in 1679. Among his more important works were a cross and six silver chandeliers for the chapel at Fontainebleau (1680), an eight-branched chandelier for Versailles (1683), and a large chandelier with movable branches attached to eight human heads in silver for the luxurious apartment of the dauphin at Versailles (1684). As far as is known, none of Germain's work for the court survives.