François d'Orbay (1634–1697) was a French draughtsman and

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

who worked closely with Louis Le Vau and

Jules Hardouin Mansart Jules Hardouin-Mansart (; 16 April 1646 – 11 May 1708) was a French Baroque architect and builder whose major work included the Place des Victoires (1684–1690); Place Vendôme (1690); the domed chapel of Les Invalides (1690), and the Grand ...

Early training and career

D'Orbay was born in Paris and likely received his early training as an architect from his father, who was a master mason and entrepreneur. In the late 1650s he became an assistant to the architect Louis Le Vau, when the latter was working on the

Château de Vincennes The Château de Vincennes () is a former fortress and royal residence next to the town of Vincennes, on the eastern edge of Paris, alongside the Bois de Vincennes. It was largely built between 1361 and 1369, and was a preferred residence, afte ...

.Berger 1998. In 1660 Le Vau sent d'Orbay to Rome for further study. While in Rome, d'Orbay created an ambitious but unexecuted design for a stair in front of the

Trinità dei Monti The church of the Santissima Trinità dei Monti, often called merely the Trinità dei Monti ( French: ''La Trinité-des-Monts''), is a Roman Catholic late Renaissance titular church in Rome, central Italy. It is best known for its position abo ...

, as well as three buildings adjacent to the church. He probably returned to Paris before the end of 1660. Eglise Premontres Saint-Germain

Commissioned by

Anne of Austria Anne of Austria (french: Anne d'Autriche, italic=no, es, Ana María Mauricia, italic=no; 22 September 1601 – 20 January 1666) was an infanta of Spain who became Queen of France as the wife of King Louis XIII from their marriage in 1615 unt ...

, d'Orbay designed and built the entrance to the church of the convent of the Prémontrés de la Croix-Rouge in 1662. A friend, the sculptor Étienne Le Hongre, executed the patron's

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

and the bas-relief of the attic (''The Eucharist Carried by Angels''). The church was located between the rue de Sèvres and the rue du Cherche-Midi in the Faubourg Saint-Germain, but was demolished in 1719. In 1663 d'Orbay received an official post with the

Bâtiments du Roi The Bâtiments du Roi (, "King's Buildings") was a division of the Maison du Roi ("King's Household") in France under the Ancien Régime. It was responsible for building works at the King's residences in and around Paris. History The Bâtimen ...

, working mainly as a draughtsman under Le Vau, the Premier Architecte du Roi. D'Orbay produced numerous drawings for the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the '' Venus de Milo''. A central ...

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, ...

, and the Collège des Quatre-Nations. After Le Vau's death in 1670, d'Orbay was left in charge of completing much of the ongoing work, sometimes introducing significant changes to Le Vau's original designs. Escalier des Ambassadeurs

At Versailles he is thought to have been primarily responsible for the design of the (decorated by Charles Le Brun), although d'Orbay apparently relied very heavily on an earlier design by

Claude Perrault Claude Perrault (25 September 1613 – 9 October 1688) was a French physician and an amateur architect, best known for his participation in the design of the east façade of the Louvre in Paris.Académie Royale d'Architecture and that same year designed the portal of the Hôpital de la Trinité (destroyed), rue Saint-Denis, Paris. In 1960 the French architect Albert Laprade brought d'Orbay from relative obscurity into the limelight by publishing a monograph in which he proposed that d'Orbay was the actual designer of most of the important French architecture projects carried out from 1660 to 1697, including the

Louvre Colonnade The Louvre Colonnade is the easternmost façade of the Palais du Louvre in Paris. It has been celebrated as the foremost masterpiece of French Architectural Classicism since its construction, mostly between 1667 and 1674. The design, dominated b ...

and the Envelope of Versailles. However, several architectural historians have subsequently disputed most of Laprade's arguments. For instance, many of the drawings used as evidence are by other hands. It has also been noted that after Le Vau's death, d'Orbay was passed over and not promoted into Le Vau's post, which remained vacant.

was made principal architect of Versailles in 1678, after which d'Orbay resumed his former job as draughtsman (now under Mansart). Mansart was promoted to Premier Architecte du Roi in 1681. Jestaz 1998, p. 296.

Late career

D'Orbay did however execute some independent work in the latter part of his career: * Carmelite Church in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...

(1680–1682; destroyed) * Theatre of the Comédie-Française on the rue des Fossés-Saint-Germain-des-Prés (now the rue de l'Ancienne Comédie) in Paris (1688–1689; destroyed) * Arc de Triomphe du Peyrou in Montpellier (designed in 1690; built by Augustin-Charles d'Aviler) *

Montauban Cathedral Montauban Cathedral (French: ''Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption de Montauban'') is a Roman Catholic cathedral and a national monument of France located in the town of Montauban. It is the seat of the Bishopric of Montauban, created in 1317 ...

(designed 1692; built 1692–1739, after 1697 by Hardouin-Mansart and Robert de Cotte, with modifications) D'Orbay died in Paris.

References

Notes Sources * Ayers, Andrew (2004). ''The Architecture of Paris''. Stuttgart; London: Edition Axel Menges. . * Berger, Robert W. (1982). "D'Orbay, François", vol. 1, pp. 590–591, in ''Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects'', edited by Adolf K. Placzek. London: Collier Macmillan. . * Berger, Robert W. (1998). "Orbay, François d'" in Turner 1998, vol. 23, p. 474. *

Blunt, Anthony Anthony Frederick Blunt (26 September 1907 – 26 March 1983), styled Sir Anthony Blunt KCVO from 1956 to November 1979, was a leading British art historian and Soviet spy. Blunt was professor of art history at the University of London, dire ...

; Beresford, Richard (1999). ''Art and Architecture in France, 1500–1700'', 5th edition. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. . * Curl, James Stevens (2006). ''A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture'', 2nd edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press. . (paperback). * Fleming, John; Honour, Hugh; Pevsner, Nikolaus, editors (1998). ''The Penguin Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture'', 5th edition. London: Penguin. . * (1948). ''Histoire de l'Architecture classique en France. Tome II: Le règne de Louis XIV''. Paris: A. & J. Picard. . * Jestaz, Bertrand (1998). "(2) Jules Hardouin-Mansart" in Turner 1998, vol. 20, pp. 293–298. * Laprade, Albert (1960). ''François d'Orbay: Architecte de Louis XIV''. Paris: Éditions Vincent, Fréal. . * Turner, Jane, editor (1998). ''

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 ...

'', reprinted with minor corrections, 34 volumes. New York: Grove. .

External links

"François d'Orbay"
at Answers.com. {{DEFAULTSORT:Orbay, Francois De 1634 births 1697 deaths Architects from Paris 17th-century French architects French draughtsmen Members of the Académie royale d'architecture Architects from Versailles French Baroque architects