Philibert Orry, count of Vignory and lord of La Chapelle-Godefroy (born inTroyes,Champagne (province) on 22 January 1689 – died atLa Chapelle-Godefroy on 9 November 1747), was a Frenchstatesman.
The fifth child ofJean Orry, a leading economist, Philibert Orry served as a cavalry captain during theWar of Spanish Succession, before becoming a member of theParlement of Paris, thenmaster of requests in 1715. He was anintendant inLille (1715–1718),Soissons (1722–1727), andRoussillon (1727–1728).
Orry was namedController-General of Finances in 1730 and combined this function with being director general of theBâtiments du Roi ("the king's buildings") in 1736, after the death of theduc d'Antin. Orry remained Controller-General until 1745, making him the longest continuously servingholder of the office in the eighteenth-century.
An ableeconomist, Orry had to restore thedixième ("tenth") tax and declared thevenality of municipal officials, successfully balancing the budget in 1739–40. Applying the principles ofColbert, he sought to develop the domestic manufacture of textiles and paper, and was involved in the production ofporcelain inVincennes in 1740. He supported trade withCanada and theIndies by reforming the statutes of theCompagnie des Indes.
As director general of buildings, he established the bi-annual public ParisSalon, and became thevice-protecteur of theAcadémie royale de peinture et de sculpture ("Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture") in April 1737. His directorship has, generally, been harshly judged. Themarquis d'Argenson spoke with contempt of "the bad, bourgeois taste of Monsieur Orry". However, Orry's selection ofCharles-Joseph Natoire in 1730 to decorate his château de La Chapelle-Godefroy (see below) reveals, on the contrary, a certain discernement in artistic matters: Natoire was one of the most promising young history painters, and his two main rivals -François Boucher andCarle Van Loo - were both abroad.
As director general ofPonts et Chaussées (bridges and highways), Orry finished theCrozat canal and maintained and developed France's road system. He sent to the intendants, in 1738, a detailed instruction on the duty (la corvée royale) for all inhabitants to spend a fortnight a year on the construction and maintenance of transport routes, classed in five categories. Thecorvée made France's major road network the finest in Europe, and before theRevolution, a great part of the public roads existed thanks to this institution. This policy of improved communications also led to the completion of theCassini map in 1744.[1]
Facing opposition fromMadame de Pompadour, Orry resigned in 1745.
He was the Treasurer of theOrder of the Holy Spirit from February 1743 to his death in 1747.
Orry owned the château de La Chapelle-Godefroy in Saint-Aubin nearNogent-sur-Seine, inherited from his father in 1719. "M. Orry", wrote the duc de Luynes in hisMémoires, "has always appeared to have no ambition, always regretting not being able to live on his estate, near Nogent, and always ready to go there with pleasure." He transformed and expanded considerably the seigneurial estate. He owned two paintings byJean-Antoine Watteau, theEnchanteur and the 'Aventurière, which today are in the musée des Beaux-Arts in Troyes.
Orry also possessed an estate, Petit Bercy, in Paris.
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