to Charles, including renowned architects Alessandro Galli da Bibiena and Maurizio Pedetti as well as Balthasar Neumann, designer of the world-famous Würzburg Residence. Construction On 3 September 1746 the cornerstone was laid under the New Palace's first build master, Leopoldo Matteo Retti whose uncle, Donato Giuseppe Frisoni, had worked on Ludwigsburg Palace. Retti, who picked the site of an old crossbow shop for the New Palace, planned for the courtyard to face the nearby Karlsschule Stuttgart and New Lusthaus south of the palace, the Garden Wing to face the Ducal Apartments in the Corps de logis, and for the City Wing to contain the guest and state rooms. However, when construction began, it began under the direction of Johann Christoph David Leger as Retti was working on a commission in Ansbach until 1748. The following year, the facades of the Corps de logis and Garden Wing were completed, while work on the interiors would last until 1750. Unfortunately, Retti, whose work had been inspired by the Baroque architecture of France, died of an unknown illness 18 September 1751. After Retti's death, construction of the palace fell to Parisian architect Philippe de La Guêpière, a friend of Retti. A connoisseur of then modern architectural theory, Philippe was inspired by his time in his native France and especially the magnificent Palace of Versailles, and took the palace in this direction. Under La Guêpière, the City Wing facade was finished in 1756 as well as a dome over the central structure in 1760 with decorations to the Corp de logis following in 1762. Unfortunately, a fire destroyed the interior of the Garden Wing, which La Guêpière had just finished, on the night of 13–14 November of that same year. Following the fire, an annoyed Charles Eugene decreed the speedy conclusion of construction of the White Room and Mirror Gallery for the celebration of his birthday (11 February) the following year. In 1764, construction ceased because the Duke moved his residence to Ludwigsburg and remained there for a decade. In response, La Guêpière left the Duke's court in 1768 and returned to Paris. In 1775, the Duke returned to Stuttgart and hired Reinhard Heinrich Ferdinand Fischer to repair the Palace. He would do so until his death in 1793 and his era would see the central pavilion of the Marble Hall in the Corps de Logis was decorated with a fresco by Nicolas Guibal.