Louis Le Vau (; c. 1612 – 11 October 1670) was a

French Baroque French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

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 for

Louis XIV of France LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

. He was an architect that helped develop the French Classical style in the 17th century.''Encyclopedia of World Biography''
"Louis Le Vau", vol. 9, pp. 360-361

Early life and career

Born Louis Le Veau, he was the son of Louis Le Veau (died February 1661), a stonemason, who was active in Paris.Feldmann 1996, p. 262. His younger brother

François Le Vau François Le Vau (; 1624 – 4 July 1676) was a French architect and a founding member of the Académie Royale d'Architecture (established in 1671). He is also known for being the youngest brother of the more famous French architect, Louis Le Va ...

(born in 1624) also became an architect. The father and his two sons worked together in the 1630s and 1640s. The two brothers later changed the spelling of their surname from "Le Veau" to "Le Vau" to avoid its association with the French word ''veau'' (calf). Le Vau started his career by designing the Hotel de Bautru in 1634. By 1639, he was developing town houses ('' hôtels particuliers'') for rich citizens such as Sainctot, Hesselin, Gillier, Gruyn des Bordes, and Jean Baptiste Lambert in the

île Saint-Louis Île Saint-Louis (), in size, is one of two natural islands in the Seine river, in Paris, France (the other natural island is the Île de la Cité, where Notre-Dame de Paris is located). Île Saint-Louis is connected to the rest of Paris by fo ...

, which was being developed as a residential area. His most notable work during this period is the

Hôtel Lambert The Hôtel Lambert () is an ''hôtel particulier,'' a grand mansion townhouse, built between 1640 and 1644 on the Quai Anjou on the eastern tip of the Île Saint-Louis, in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. In the 19th century, the name ''Hôtel La ...

(). File:Hôtel Lambert01.jpg, Plan of the '' premier étage'' with the

Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plat ...

to the right File:Paris 4e Hôtel Lambert 321.jpg, Garden façades viewed from the riverbank Le Vau also designed country houses, including the Château de Livry (), later known as the

Château du Raincy The Château du Raincy () was built between 1643 and 1650 for Jacques Bordier, '' Intendant des finances'', following the Baroque plans drawn by architect Louis Le Vau on the site of a Benedictine priory on the road from Paris to Meaux, in the p ...

Royal architect

In 1654, his career was advanced through his appointment as the first architect to the king, succeeding

Jacques Lemercier Jacques Lemercier (; c. 1585 in Pontoise – 13 January 1654 in Paris) was a French architect and engineer, one of the influential trio that included Louis Le Vau and François Mansart who formed the classicizing French Baroque manner, drawin ...

. He was commissioned by Jules Cardinal Mazarin to help rebuild part of the medieval

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, after ...

. File:Pavillon du roi du chateau de vincennes 01.JPG, Pavilion of the King (east façade) File:Vincennes Château de Vincennes Pavillon de la Reine.jpg, Pavilion of the Queen (west façade) Shortly after, in 1656 he was given the important commission to build the chateau of Nicolas Fouquet,

Vaux-le-Vicomte The Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte () or simply Vaux-le-Vicomte is a Baroque French château located in Maincy, near Melun, southeast of Paris in the Seine-et-Marne Departments of France, department of Île-de-France. Built between 1658 and 1661 ...

with the help of

André Le Nôtre André Le Nôtre (; 12 March 1613 – 15 September 1700), originally rendered as André Le Nostre, was a French landscape architect and the principal gardener of King Louis XIV of France. He was the landscape architect who designed Gardens ...

and

Charles Le Brun Charles Le Brun (; baptised 24 February 1619 – 12 February 1690) was a French Painting, painter, Physiognomy, physiognomist, Aesthetics, art theorist, and a director of several art schools of his time. He served as a court painter to Louis XIV, ...

."Vau, Louis Le" in ''A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture'' (3 ed.). . Le Vau's most notable work in the Vaux-le-Vicomte is the oval salon facing the garden. This design, an example of a ''salon à l'italienne'' (vaulted, two-storied room), develops the idea that a simple form governs the shape of the main section of the building. File:Vaux-le-Vicomte Front2.jpg, Rhythmic massing of the entrance front File:Vaux le vicomte 1.jpg, View of the garden front with the oval salon In the 1660s Le Vau helped on royal projects, such as the hospital of

La Salpêtrière LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note *"L.A.", a song by Elliott Smi ...

and the facade of the

Tuileries Palace The Tuileries Palace (, ) was a palace in Paris which stood on the right bank of the Seine, directly in the west-front of the Louvre Palace. It was the Parisian residence of most French monarchs, from Henri IV to Napoleon III, until it was b ...

. From 1661 to 1664 Le Vau worked on rebuilding the

Galerie d'Apollon The Galerie d'Apollon is a large and iconic room of the Louvre Palace, on the first (upper) floor of a wing known as the Petite Galerie. Its current setup was first designed in the 1660s. It has been part of the Louvre Museum since the 1790s, was ...

in the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

after it burned in a fire.

Claude Perrault Claude Perrault (; 25 September 1613 – 9 October 1688) was a French physician and amateur architect, best known for his participation in the design of the east façade of the Louvre in Paris.east front of the Louvre The Louvre Colonnade is the easternmost façade of the Louvre Palace 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 by t ...

from 1665 to 1674, which acted as a prelude for

Classical Architecture Classical architecture typically refers to architecture consciously derived from the principles of Ancient Greek architecture, Greek and Ancient Roman architecture, Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or more specifically, from ''De archit ...

in the 18th century. The most notable work of Le Vau's career was at the

Palace of Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

with which he was involved for the remainder of his life. He added service wings to the forecourts and, after 1668, had rebuilt the garden façade to be totally classical. Le Vau was assisted by

François d'Orbay François d'Orbay (; 1634–1697) was a French draughtsman and architect who worked closely with Louis Le Vau and Jules Hardouin Mansart. Early training and career D'Orbay was born in Paris and likely received his early training as an archite ...

, who completed the work after Le Vau's death. Le Vau and d'Orbay's work at Versailles was later modified and extended by

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 Gra ...

. Le Vau's designs for the

Collège des Quatre-Nations The Collège des Quatre-Nations ("College of the Four Nations"), also known as the Collège Mazarin after its founder, was one of the colleges of the historic University of Paris. It was founded through a bequest by the Cardinal Mazarin. At his ...

(now housing the

Institut de France The ; ) is a French learned society, grouping five , including the . It was established in 1795 at the direction of the National Convention. Located on the Quai de Conti in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, the institute manages approximately ...

) were completed after his death by his assistant François d' Orbay and showed unlikely rapport with Italian baroque techniques. File:Chateau de Versailles 1675FXD.jpg, Le Vau's garden front at the Château de Versailles, c. 1675 File:Instituto de Francia Noche 2.jpg, Collège des Quatre-Nations in 2014

Death

Louis Le Vau died on 11 October 1670, aged around 57, at the former Hôtel de Longueville and was buried at the church of

Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois The Church of Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois () is a medieval Roman Catholic church in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, directly across from the Louvre Palace. It was named for Saint Germanus of Auxerre, a medieval bishop of Auxerre, who became a papal ...

in Paris.Jal 1873, p. 56

Notes

Bibliography

* Bajou, Thierry (1998). ''La peinture à Versailles : XVIIe siècle''. nglish edition: ''Paintings at Versailles: XVIIth Century'', translated by Elizabeth Wiles-Portier, p. 76.Paris: Réunion des musées nationaux. . (English edition). * Ballon, Hilary (1999). ''Louis Le Vau: Mazarin's Collège, Colbert's Revenge''. Princeton University Press. . * Berger, Robert W. (1982). "Le Vau, Louis", , , in ''Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects'', edited by Adolf K. Placzek. London: Collier Macmillan. . * Cojannot, Alexandre (2012). ''Louis Le Vau et les nouvelles ambitions de l'architecture française 1612–1654''. Paris: Picard. . * Curl, James Stevens (2006). ''A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture'', second edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press. . * ''Encyclopædia Britannica''
"France"
* ''Encyclopedia of World Biography'' (2004, 2nd ed.). Gale Ebooks. . * Feldmann, Dietrich (1996)
"Le Vau (1) Louis Le Vau", ,
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 Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press ...

, subscription required. * Hardouin, Christophe (1994). "La Collection de portraits de l'Académie royale de Peinture et de Sculpture: Peintures entrées sous le règne de Louis XIV (1648–1715", Mémoire de D.E.A., Université de Paris IV, 1994, pp. 164–166. * Jal, Auguste (1873). '' Abraham du Quesne et la marine de son temps'', vol. 2. Paris: Henri Plon
Copy
at Google Books. * Laprade, Albert (1955). "Portraits des premiers architectes de Versailles", ''Revue des Arts'', March 1955, pp. 21–24. * Laprade, Albert (1960). ''François d'Orbay: Architecte de Louis XIV''. Paris: Éditions Vincent, Fréal. .

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Le Vau, Louis French Baroque architects 1610s births 1670 deaths Architects from Paris Members of the Académie royale d'architecture Louis XIV 17th-century French architects Architects from Versailles