Franz Christian Gau (15 June 1790, in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

– January 1854, in

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 ...

) was a French architect and archaeologist of German descent. In 1809 he entered the

Académie des Beaux-Arts The (; ) is a French learned society based in Paris. It is one of the five academies of the . The current president of the academy (2021) is Alain-Charles Perrot, a French architect. Background The academy was created in 1816 in Paris as a me ...

, Paris, and in 1815 visited Italy and

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

. In 1817 he went to

Nubia Nubia (, Nobiin language, Nobiin: , ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the confluence of the Blue Nile, Blue and White Nile, White Niles (in Khartoum in central Sudan), and the Cataracts of the Nile, first cataract ...

, and while there he made drawings and measurements of all the more important monuments of that country, his ambition being to produce a work which should supplement the great work of the French expedition in Egypt. The result of his labours appeared in a

folio The term "folio" () has three interconnected but distinct meanings in the world of books and printing: first, it is a term for a common method of arranging Paper size, sheets of paper into book form, folding the sheet only once, and a term for ...

volume (Stuttgart and Paris, 1822), entitled ''Antiquitiés de la Nubie ou monuments inédits des bords du Nil, situés entre la première et la seconde cataracte, dessinés et mesurés in 1819''. It consists of sixty-eight plates, of plans, sections, and views, and was received as an authority. His next publication was the completion of Francois Mazois's work on the ruins of

Pompeii Pompeii ( ; ) was a city in what is now the municipality of Pompei, near Naples, in the Campania region of Italy. Along with Herculaneum, Stabiae, and Villa Boscoreale, many surrounding villas, the city was buried under of volcanic ash and p ...

. In 1825 Gau was

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

as a French citizen, and later became

Architect of the City of Paris The Architect of the City of Paris (''Architecte de la ville de Paris'') is the incumbent of a municipal position, responsible for the design and construction of civic projects in Paris. In the Ancien Régime in France, the position of Bâtiments ...

. He directed the restoration of the churches of

Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre, in full Église Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre (French language, French for ''Church of Saint Julian the Poor''), is a Melkite Greek Catholic Church, Melkite Greek Catholic parish church in Paris, France, and one of the city's old ...

, and

Saint-Séverin Saint-Séverin (; ) is a commune in the Charente department in southwestern France. Geography The Lizonne forms the commune's eastern border, then flows into the Dronne, which forms the commune's southern border. Population See also *Com ...

, and built the great prison of La Roquette, etc. With his name also is associated the revival of

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

in Paris - he having designed and commenced, in 1846, the erection of the Church of Sainte-Clotilde, the first modern church erected in the capital in that style. Illness compelled him to relinquish the care of supervising the work, and he died before its completion. Gau was mentor to

Gottfried Semper Gottfried Semper (; 29 November 1803 – 15 May 1879) was a German architect, art critic, and professor of architecture who designed and built the Semper Opera House in Dresden between 1838 and 1841. In 1849 he took part in the May Uprising in ...

Sources

* The entry cites: **''Imperial Dict. Univ. Biog.''; **Michaud, ''Biog. Univ.'' 1790 births Architects from Cologne 1854 deaths German archaeologists German emigrants to France Architects from Paris École des Beaux-Arts alumni Burials at Montmartre Cemetery {{Germany-architect-stub