François de Cuvilliés the Elder

François de Cuvilliés the Elder (born October 23, 1695, Soignies, Hainaut [Belgium]—died April 14, 1768, Munich [Germany]) was the chief architect and decorator in the Bavarian Rococo style.

He was trained in Paris before his appointment (1725) as court architect to Duke Maximilian II Emanuel of Bavaria. Among his works in Munich and its environs are the Amalienburg hunting lodge, Nymphenburg (1734–39); the Residenztheater (1750–53); and the facade of St. Cajetan’s Church (Theatinerkirche; 1765–68). His son François de Cuvilliés the Younger (1731–77) also was an architect in the Rococo idiom.