ABSTRACT
All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players. When he passed away on January 19, 1766, Giovanni Niccolo Servandoni was a celebrated architect, known as an instigator of neoclassicism in France for his work on the west facade of the church of Saint-Sulpice in Paris. The Regency of the Duke of Orleans had opened the door to many forms of contestation in France, including the raise of Jansenism that openly opposed the absolute power of the king. Tracing his lineage back to the first crusade established the authority of the duke through a fabricated ancestry that emanated from the Primitive Church in Jerusalem, and rekindled the debate between heavenly powers over earthly authorities. The Church of Saint-Sulpice has played a central role as a repository of century-old secrets and political intrigues in many fictional works of literature and a strict academic historical approach would prevent one from considering following speculative leads.
