a note that the other leading centre of French faience, Rouen faience, should be protected and encouraged, sent designs, and given commissions by the king. Around 1670 the Poterat family of Rouen received part of the large and prestigious commissions for Louis XIV's , a small palace whose walls were largely covered in painted tiles, in fact of faience rather than porcelain, which was demolished not long after. Nevers and other centres shared these commissions, and others for large fittings and decorations for Louis's other palaces. Nevers garden vases in blue and white were prominently used in the gardens of the Château de Versailles. The French faience industry received another huge boost when, late in Louis's reign in 1709, the king pressured the wealthy to donate their silver plate, previously what they normally used to dine, to his treasury to help pay for his wars. They was an "overnight frenzy" as the elite rushed to get faience replacements of the best quality. The reign also saw the earliest French porcelain in Rouen porcelain, although production was on a tiny scale; only nine small pieces are thought to survive. The next factory, Saint-Cloud porcelain, from perhaps 1695 onwards, was more successful, though it was only in the following reign that French porcelain was produced in quantity. Painting In the first part of the reign, French painters were largely influenced by the Italians, particularly Caravaggio. Notable French painters included Nicolas Poussin, who was living in Rome; Claude Lorrain, who specialized in landscapes and spent most of his career in Rome; Louis Le Nain, who, along with his brothers, did mostly genre works; Eustache Le Sueur, and Charles Le Brun, who studied with Poussin in Rome and were influenced by him. With the death in 1661 of Cardinal Mazarin, the King's prime minister, Louis decided to take personal charge of all aspects of government, including the arts. His chief advisor on the arts was Jean Colbert (1619–1683), who was also his finance minister. In 1663 Colbert reorganized the Royal furniture workshops, which made a wide variety of luxury goods, and added to it the Gobelins tapestry workshops. At the same time, with the assistance of Le Brun, Colbert took charge of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, which had been founded by Cardinal Mazarin. Colbert also took a dominant role in architecture, taking the title of Superintendent of buildings in 1664. In