Jean de la Vallée (ca 1620 – 12 March 1696) was a Swedish

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 ...

Biography

Born in France, he was the son of architect Simon de la Vallée (ca 1595–1642). He made early trips in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

where he studied the new baroque forms of architecture. In 1637, he came to Sweden with his father Simon who was killed by a Swedish nobleman in 1642. The father had started the planning of the House of Knights in Stockholm, and in 1660 his son finished his father's work. Prior to this, Jean de la Vallée had planned two major churches in central Stockholm,

Katarina kyrka Katarina kyrka (''Church of Catherine'') is one of the major churches in central Stockholm, Sweden. The original building was constructed 1656–1695. It has been rebuilt twice after being destroyed by fires, the second time during the 1990s. ...

in 1656 and Hedvig Eleonora Church in 1658. In 1646, he received a royal scholarship for three years and began an international trip to study architecture. The journey went over the

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Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

where he arrived in August 1646. It continued to

and

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, which he first left in the spring of 1650. He also worked on the commission of many noblemen. For Magnus Gabriel de la Gardie he planned the remodeling of the Karlberg Castle in the capital. Other notable examples of his work are the castle of Skokloster, the Palace of Bonde (now the seat of the Supreme Court) and the remodeling of the Wrangel Palace (now the seat of ''Svea Hovrätt'', the Svea Court of Appeal), both on

Riddarholmen Riddarholmen (, "The Knights' Islet") is a small islet in central Stockholm, Sweden. The island forms part of Gamla Stan, the old town, and houses a number of private palaces dating back to the 17th century. The main landmark is the church Riddarh ...

in central Stockholm. In 1680 he was awarded the title "Royal and City Architect" and from 1680 to 1688 he was a state architect in Stockholm. In 1692 he was knighted.

Personal life

In November 1654, he married Anna Maria Böös. His daughter, Margaret de la Vallée, was married to architect and master builder Mathias Spieler (c. 1640–1691). He died in Stockholm during 1696.

References

1620 births 1696 deaths French emigrants to Sweden Swedish architects {{Sweden-architect-stub