Paul Bigot (20 October 1870 – 8 June 1942) was a French architect.

Biography

Bigot was born in

Orbec Orbec () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. Population International relations Orbec is twinned with: *Kingsteignton UK since 1979 * Frammersbach (Germany) since 1987 See also *Communes ...

Calvados Calvados (, , ) is a brandy from Normandy in France, made from apples and/or pears. History In France Apple orchards and brewers are mentioned as far back as the 8th century by Charlemagne. The first known record of Norman distillation was ma ...

. He studied architecture at the

École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in nor ...

in Paris, in the atelier of

Louis-Jules André Louis-Jules André (; 24 June 1819 – 30 January 1890) was a French academic architect and the head of an important ''atelier'' at the École des Beaux-Arts. Biography Born in Paris, André attended the École des Beaux-Arts and took the P ...

. He won the

Grand Prix de Rome The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them t ...

in 1900, which enabled him to study in Rome at the

Villa Medici The Villa Medici () is a sixteenth-century Italian Mannerist villa and an architectural complex with 7-hectare Italian garden, contiguous with the more extensive Borghese gardens, on the Pincian Hill next to Trinità dei Monti in the historic ...

. He later became a professor at the École des Beaux-Arts. He is particularly known for his "", a large architectural model of

Ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

. It is a plaster model of about 70 square metres at a scale of 1:400, showing Rome as it would have been in the time of the emperor

Constantine I Constantine I (27 February 27222 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a Constantine the Great and Christianity, pivotal ro ...

(4th century AD). The model is preserved at the

University of Caen The University of Caen Normandy (French: ''Université de Caen Normandie''), also known as Unicaen, is a public university in Caen, France. History The institution was founded in 1432 by John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford, the first rector ...

and is itself listed as an ancient monument. A second version is in the

Royal Museums of Art and History The Royal Museums of Art and History (RMAH) (; ) are a group of museums in Brussels, Belgium. They are part of the institutions of the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (BELSPO) and consist of five museums: the Art & History Museum, the ...

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

. Bigot was the architect of the

Institut d'Art et d'Archéologie The ''Institut d'Art et d'Archéologie'', also known as the Michelet Campus, is a building at 3 rue Michelet in Paris, built for the educational institution of the same name (French for "Institute of Art and Archaeology"). It was initially design ...

, in Paris, completed in 1932.

Works

* 1908-1942: , a large model of Rome in 350 CE. * 1920-1932:

, Paris * 1922: reconstruction of the town of

Fargniers Fargniers is a part (an associated commune) of the commune (municipality) of Tergnier located in the French department of Aisne. A former independent municipality, Fargniers was absorbed by Tergnier in 1974. Its population is 3,328 (2022). Destr ...

following its comprehensive destruction during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, in association with

Henri Paul Nénot Henri Paul Nénot (27 May 1853 – 1934) was a noted French architect. Biography Nénot was born in Paris. After his initial training in an architectural workshop, he entered the studio of Charles-Auguste Questel at the École Nationale Sup� ...

, financed by the

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP) is a nonpartisan international affairs think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C., with operations in Europe, South Asia, East Asia, and the Middle East, as well as the United States. Foun ...

* 1924-1934: reconstruction of the neighborhood around the

Saint-Quentin station Saint-Quentin station ( French: ''Gare de Saint-Quentin'') is a railway station serving the town Saint-Quentin, Aisne department, northern France. It is situated on the Creil–Jeumont railway. The station is served by regional trains to Compi ...

Saint-Quentin Saint-Quentin may refer to: Places Canada *Saint-Quentin, New Brunswick * Saint-Quentin Parish, New Brunswick * Saint-Quentin Island, in Trois-Rivières, in Québec France * Saint-Quentin, Aisne, in the Aisne department * Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines ...

, including the

Monument aux Morts Monuments aux Morts are French war memorials established to commemorate the losses of World War I. After the end of the 1914–1918 war there was a frenzy to build memorials to commemorate those who had been killed and it has been calculated that ...

with sculptors

Henri Bouchard Henri Bouchard (13 December 1875 – 30 November 1960), was a French sculptor. His work was part of the sculpture event in the art competition at the 1924 Summer Olympics. Biography The son of a carpenter, Bouchard was born in Dijon. He w ...

and

Paul Landowski Paul Maximilien Landowski (1 June 1875 – 31 March 1961) was a French monument sculptor of Polish descent. His best-known work is '' Christ the Redeemer'' in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Biography Landowski was born in Paris, France, of a Polish re ...

* 1930: Monument of the

First Battle of the Marne The First Battle of the Marne or known in France as the Miracle on the Marne () was a battle of the First World War fought from the 5th to the 12th September 1914. The German army invaded France with a plan for winning the war in 40 days by oc ...

in Mondement * 1933: Monument to

Aristide Briand Aristide Pierre Henri Briand (; 28 March 18627 March 1932) was a French statesman who served eleven terms as Prime Minister of France during the French Third Republic. He is mainly remembered for his focus on international issues and reconciliat ...

on the

Quai d'Orsay The Quai d'Orsay ( , ) is a quay in the 7th arrondissement of Paris. It is part of the left bank of the Seine opposite the Place de la Concorde. It becomes the Quai Anatole-France east of the Palais Bourbon, and the Quai Branly west of the ...

, Paris, with

and

* 1935: refurbishment of

Hôtel Matignon The Hôtel Matignon (, ) is the official residence of the Prime Minister of France. It is located in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, at 57 Rue de Varenne. The name Matignon is often used as a metonym for the governmental action of the French p ...

as office and residence of the French Prime Minister * 1935-1939: expansion of the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

* 1936: Monument to

Ferdinand Foch Ferdinand Foch ( , ; 2 October 1851 – 20 March 1929) was a French general, Marshal of France and a member of the Académie Française and French Academy of Sciences, Académie des Sciences. He distinguished himself as Supreme Allied Commander ...

, Paris, with sculptor

References

Notes

External links

Le Plan de Rome website at University of Caen

Biography: "Paul Bigot: a Norman in Rome"

Modern Mechanix: Model of Rome Took Thirty Years to Build (Jun, 1934)

See: Designed / created by Arch. Paul Bigot ("Prix de Rome"), c. 1906–1911. News Report: REMARKABLE RESTORATION OF THE ANCIENT CITY MADE IN MODEL, THE NEW YORK TIMES (26-11-1911, pg. SM8). cf.

Martin. G. Conde, Rome. Model's of Ancient Rome rea of the Imperial Fora Giuseppe Marcelliani (1905–1906); Paul Bigot (1906–1911, 1942); Italo Gismondi / Pierino Di Carlo (1933–1937, & later revisions).
Works by Paul Bigot
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bigot, Paul 1870 births 1942 deaths People from Calvados (department) Prix de Rome for architecture 20th-century French architects École des Beaux-Arts alumni Academic staff of the École des Beaux-Arts Members of the Académie des beaux-arts