A detailed and complex plan of the oldest part of the city of Aix-en-Provence, incorporating draft plans for the modernisation of the area to the southwest of the famous "Le Cours" (since 1876, the Cours Mirabeau), where the Place de la Rotonde is, and the Fontaine de la Rotonde now stands. The original design for revitalising the area was submitted by celebrated local architect and designer, Paul-Gilles Cauvet in 1781. However, work did not begin on the Place de la Rotonde until 1840, with completion in 1850. The fountain was opened in 1860.

The plan also shows the results of a triangulation survey, with a central point to the west of the city. Much attention is given to local water sources, in the west, and running through the city, perhaps connected to the future route of the Canal Zola, which was completed in 1854, and which was the first water source for the Fontaine de la Rotonde.

The mapmaker
Paul-Gilles Cauvet (1731-1788) was a prominent and influential sculptor, architect, and designer to the court of Louis XVI of France. Not only was he the sculptor for Louis XVI's brother, the comte de Provence, later Louis XVIII, but he was also director of the Académie de Saint-Luc, the guild of decorative painters and sculptors.