François-Simon-Alphonse Giroux (6 April 1776,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

- 1 May 1848, Paris) was a French art restorer and

ébéniste An ''ébéniste'' () is a cabinet-maker, particularly one who works in ebony. The term is a loanword from French and translates to "ebonist". Etymology and ambiguities As opposed to ''ébéniste'', the term ''menuisier'' denotes a woodcarver or ...

Life and work

He studied painting under

Jacques-Louis David Jacques-Louis David (; 30 August 1748 – 29 December 1825) was a French painter in the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the era. In the 1780s, his cerebral brand of history painting marked a change in ...

, and founded an art restoration business near the end of the 18th century. He was the official restorer of

Notre Dame Cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris ( ; meaning "Cathedral of Our Lady of Paris"), often referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the River Seine), in the 4th arrondissement of Paris, France. It ...

, and collected and exhibited art by

Louis Daguerre Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre ( ; ; 18 November 1787 – 10 July 1851) was a France, French scientist, artist and photographer, recognized for his invention of the eponymous daguerreotype process of photography. He became known as one of th ...

, Charles Marie Bouton, Charles Arrowsmith, Charles Renoux, and others. As well as restoring art, his business made and sold

furniture Furniture refers to objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., Stool (seat), stools, chairs, and sofas), eating (table (furniture), tables), storing items, working, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Furnitur ...

in various styles for the French royal family and others.. In June 1833 Alph. Giroux & Cie. introduced the Phénakisticope in France, as one of the first companies to publish the animation device after it was more or less simultaneously invented in Belgium and Austria. The company's name for the device would end up to be the most commonly used one, soon adapted as 'phenakistiscope' in England (and later misspelled as 'phenakistoscope'). Giroux is also known for constructing the

daguerreotype Daguerreotype was the first publicly available photography, photographic process, widely used during the 1840s and 1850s. "Daguerreotype" also refers to an image created through this process. Invented by Louis Daguerre and introduced worldwid ...

cameras designed by Daguerre, the first commercially manufactured photographic camera in the world. A mass-produced daugerrotype camera cabinet manufactured by Giroux, who was the brother-in-law of

, was exhibited at the 1839

Exposition des produits de l'industrie française The Exposition des produits de l'industrie française (; ) was a public event organized in Paris, France, from 1798 to 1849. The purpose was "to offer a panorama of the productions of the various branches of industry with a view to emulation". Ba ...

in Paris. It did not win an award, although Giroux did gain a silver medal for a jewelry box. The painter André Giroux was one of his sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Giroux, Alphonse French furniture designers Conservator-restorers French artists Year of birth unknown 1848 deaths