François Debret (27 June 1777 – 19 February 1850) was a 19th-century French architect and Freemason. He was one of a group of influential

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

architects in the 1820s and 1830s that furthered the precepts of

Percier and Fontaine Percier and Fontaine was a noted partnership between French architects Charles Percier and Pierre François Léonard Fontaine. History Together, Percier and Fontaine were inventors and major proponents of the rich and grand, consciously archaeol ...

, although little of his own work survives.Mead 1996.

Early life and training

Born in Paris, François Debret was the son of Jacques Debret, criminal court clerk of the Parliament of Paris. He was the younger brother of Jean-Baptiste Debret. In 1808, he married a sister of the architect

Félix Duban Jacques Félix Duban () (14 October 1798, Paris – 8 October 1870, Bordeaux) was a French architect, the contemporary of Jacques Ignace Hittorff and Henri Labrouste. Life and career Duban won the Prix de Rome in 1823, the most prestigious aw ...

. Their son, Francis, born in 1809, graduated from the French

Académie des Beaux-Arts An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

(Academy of Fine Arts). Around 1793 Debret studied with Charles Percier.

Career

In 1813, Debret succeeded Jacques Cellerier as the architect in charge of restoring the

Basilica of Saint-Denis The Basilica of Saint-Denis (french: Basilique royale de Saint-Denis, links=no, now formally known as the ) is a large former medieval abbey church and present cathedral in the commune of Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris. The building ...

near Paris. His work there demonstrated a lack of understanding of

gothic architecture Gothic architecture (or pointed architecture) is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It ...

. He supervised the trimming of stone from the church's flying buttresses, causing dangerous structural weakness; carried out the removal of authentic ornamentation; and added the anachronistic Gallery of Kings to the west facade. Already condemned by medievalists, he rebuilt the spire of the facade's north tower, after it was struck by lightning in 1837. The new spire was too heavy, jeopardizing the structural integrity of the facade. Relieved of his post in 1846 due to incompetence, he was succeeded by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, who took down the spire in 1847. The disputes over Debret's designs for the church furthered the Gothic Revival in France. In 1818–1819, he was assigned the task of transforming the former Augustinian convent in Paris into the

École des Beaux-Arts École des Beaux-Arts (; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centur ...

, which had been revived in 1816 under the Bourbon Restoration. Debret supervised the construction of the serviceable Bâtiment des Loges (1822–1828) and built the foundation and south wing of the Palais des Études (started in 1820), but in 1832 was replaced by his former student and brother-in-law, Félix Duban, who redesigned it. Debret was more successful with his theatre designs. After restoring Nicolas Lenoir's

Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin The Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin is a venerable theatre and opera house at 18, Boulevard Saint-Martin in the 10th arrondissement of Paris. History It was first built very rapidly in 1781 under the direction of (1726–1810) to house th ...

in 1818, he remodeled the acoustically well-regarded auditorium of Victor Louis's Théâtre des Arts in 1819. His changes included raising the ceiling by replacing the original Ionic capitals with

Corinthian Corinthian or Corinthians may refer to: *Several Pauline epistles, books of the New Testament of the Bible: **First Epistle to the Corinthians **Second Epistle to the Corinthians **Third Epistle to the Corinthians (Orthodox) *A demonym relating to ...

. In 1820 he was commissioned to design the temporary opera house, the

Salle Le Peletier The Salle Le Peletier or Lepeletier (sometimes referred to as the Salle de la rue Le Peletier or the Opéra Le Peletier) was the home of the Paris Opera from 1821 until the building was destroyed by fire in 1873. The theatre was designed and con ...

, in which he essentially rebuilt the auditorium of the Théâtre des Arts (demolished by an ordinance of 9 August 1820). The design of the auditorium was so well received, it was prescribed as the official model for the auditorium of a new opera house in the competition of 1861. The Salle Le Peletier was destroyed by fire in 1873, and the Nouvel Opéra (New Opera) opened in 1875. Debret also designed the Salle de la Bourse, which opened in 1827.Wild 1989, p. 68.Lance 1872, p. 184
Debret was elected a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in 1825 and became inspector general to the Conseil Général des Bâtiments Civils (General Council of Civil Buildings) in 1841. He was replaced by

Rohault de Fleury Rohault de Fleury is a French family name. It may refer to: * Charles Rohault de Fleury (1801–1875), French architect * Georges Rohault de Fleury (1835–1904), French archaeologist and art historian * Hubert Rohault de Fleury (architect) (1777� ...

as the architect of the Opéra in 1846 and shortly after the

February Revolution of 1848 The French Revolution of 1848 (french: Révolution française de 1848), also known as the February Revolution (), was a brief period of civil unrest in France, in February 1848, that led to the collapse of the July Monarchy and the foundation ...

was dismissed as inspector general. Among his students and apprentices was

Antoine-Nicolas Bailly Antoine-Nicolas Louis Bailly (6 June 1810 – 1 January 1892) was a French architect. Life Born in Paris as the son of a postal official and the eldest of eleven children, Bailly entered the ''atelier'' of architect François Debret and ...

Achievements

* Restoration of several theaters and buildings of the École des Beaux-Arts (1822–1832), set in the old musée des monuments français, founded in 1795 in the former Couvent des Petits Augustins, and closed by

Louis XVIII Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. He spent twenty-three years in ...

in 1816. This work was continued by his brother-in-law Félix Duban.

Gallery of works

File:Pavillon de Hanovre, boulevard des Italiens, par François Debret.jpg, Pavillon de Hanovre on the Boulevard des Italiens. File:Salle_Le_Peletier_-_elevation_and_long_section_-_CC_Meade_1991_p51.jpg, Salle Le Peletier, the Paris Opera from 1821 to 1873. File:Debret_Projet_Théâtre_Cercle_du_Commerce_à_Brest.jpg, Transformable room for show, concert and dance, 1779. File:Debret_Projet_Théâtre_Cercle_du_Commerce_à_Brest2.jpg, Transformable room for show, concert and dance, 1799.

Notes

Bibliography

* Curl, James Stevens (2006). ''Oxford Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture'', 2nd edition. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. . * Lance, Adolphe (1872). ''Dictionnaire des Architectes français'', 2 volumes. Paris: A. Morel. Vol
1
an
2
at Google Books. * Mead, Christopher (1996)
"Debret, François"
vol. 8, pp. 592–593, in ''

The Dictionary of Art ''Grove Art Online'' is the online edition of ''The Dictionary of Art'', often referred to as the ''Grove Dictionary of Art'', and part of Oxford Art Online, an internet gateway to online art reference publications of Oxford University Press, ...

'' (34 vols.), edited by Jane Turner. New York: Grove. . Also at

Oxford Art Online Oxford Art Online is an Oxford University Press online gateway into art research, which was launched in 2008. It provides access to several online art reference works, including Grove Art Online (originally published in 1996 in a print version, ''T ...

, subscription required. * Wild, Nicole ( 989. ''Dictionnaire des théâtres parisiens au XIXe siècle: les théâtres et la musique''. Paris: Aux Amateurs de livres. . (paperback)
View formats and editions
at

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the O ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Debret, Francois 1777 births 1850 deaths French Freemasons 19th-century French architects Members of the Académie des beaux-arts Architects from Paris Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery