French architect
Francois Mansart
(
French pronunciation:
[f???swa
m??sa?]
; 23 January 1598 ? 23 September 1666) was a
French
architect
credited with introducing
classicism
into
Baroque architecture of France
. The
Encyclopædia Britannica
cites him as the most accomplished of 17th-century French architects whose works "are renowned for their high degree of refinement, subtlety, and elegance".
[1]
Mansart, as he is generally known, popularized the
mansard roof
, a four-sided, double slope
gambrel
roof punctuated with windows on the steeper lower slope which created additional habitable space in the
garrets
.
[2]
Career
[
edit
]
Francois Mansart was born to a master
carpenter
in
Paris
. He was not trained as an architect; his relatives helped train him as a
stonemason
and a
sculptor
. He is thought to have learned the skills of architect in the studio of
Salomon de Brosse
, the most popular architect of
Henry IV
's reign.
Mansart was highly recognized from the 1620s onward for his style and skill as an architect, but he was viewed as a stubborn and difficult perfectionist, tearing down his structures in order to start building them over again. Only the richest could afford to have him work for them as Mansart's constructions cost "more money than the
Great Turk
himself possesses".
The only surviving example of his early work is the
Chateau de Balleroy
, commissioned by a chancellor to
Gaston, Duke of Orleans
, and started in 1626. The duke himself was so pleased with the result that he invited Mansart to renovate his
Chateau de Blois
(1635). The architect intended to rebuild this former royal residence completely, but his design was stymied, and only the north wing was reconstructed to Mansart's design, cleverly using classical orders. In 1632, Mansart designed the
Church of St. Mary of the Angels
using the
Pantheon
in Rome as an inspiration.
[3]
Most of Mansart's buildings were subsequently reconstructed or demolished. The best preserved example of his mature style is the
Chateau de Maisons
, which uniquely retains the original interior decoration, including a magnificent staircase. The structure is strictly symmetrical, with much attention given to relief. It is thought to have heralded and inspired the 18th-century
Neoclassicism
.
In the 1640s, Mansart worked on the convent and church of the
Val-de-Grace
in Paris, a much coveted commission from
Anne of Austria
. His alleged profligacy led to his being replaced with a more tractable architect, who basically followed Mansart's design.
In the 1650s, Mansart was targeted by political enemies of the prime minister
Cardinal Mazarin
, for whom Mansart frequently worked. In 1651, they published "La Mansarade", a pamphlet accusing the architect of wild extravagance and machinations.
After
Louis XIV
's accession to the throne, Mansart lost many of his commissions to other architects. His designs for the remodeling of
Louvre
and for the royal mausoleum at
Saint-Denis
were never executed, in the case of the Louvre because he would not submit detailed plans.
[4]
Some of his plans were subsequently reused by his grandnephew,
Jules Hardouin Mansart
. Mansart died in Paris in 1666.
Gallery
[
edit
]
-
The Chateau de Balleroy, Mansart's earliest surviving work
-
The Church of the Visitation in the Rue Saint-Antoine, now the
Temple du Marais
[5]
-
Chateau de Maisons, a defining work in French architecture
-
Church of Val-de-Grace, built for Anne of Austria
References
[
edit
]
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Braham, Allan; Smith, Peter (1973).
Francois Mansart
. London: A. Zwemmer.
ISBN
9780302022511
.
- Perrault, Charles (1696),
"Francois Mansart"
,
Les hommes illustres qui ont paru en France pendant ce siecle - avec leur portraits au naturel
(in French), vol. 1 (2 vols.
folio
ed.), Paris, pp. 87?88
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