Antoine Gautier de Montdorge

Antoine-César Gautier de Montdorge (or Mondorge) (17 January 1701 or 1707 – 24 October 1768)[1] was a French man of letters, best known for writing the libretto for Rameau's opéra-ballet Les fêtes d'Hébé (1739). Born in Lyon, he moved to Paris, where he worked as a financier (with the title "maître à la Chambre aux deniers du Roi").[2] He was a friend and neighbour of Rameau's patron Alexandre Le Riche de La Pouplinière and probably met the composer at La Pouplinière's salon.[3] Montdorge was not identified as the author of Les fêtes d'Hébé on any of its printed editions.[4] It was first attributed to him by Antoine de Léris in the 1763 edition of his Dictionnaire portatif des théâtres.[5] Reviewers severely criticised the literary weakness of the work.[6] The only other opera libretto Montdorge wrote was the one-act comédie-ballet L'opéra de société for Jean-François Giraud in 1762.[7] He described his experience working as a librettist for Rameau in the anonymously published Réflections d'un peintre sur l'opéra (1743).[8]

Montdorge was also interested in the fine arts. He wrote three articles for the Encyclopédie on engraving[9] and published a work on colour printing, L'art d'imprimer les tableaux en trois couleurs, in 1755.[10]