Ange-Jacques Gabriel
| Ange-Jacques Gabriel | |
|---|---|
 Ange Jacques Gabriel by Jean-Baptiste Greuze | |
| Born |
October 23, 1698 Paris, France |
| Died |
January 4, 1782 Paris, France |
| Occupation | Architect |
Ange-Jacques Gabriel (23 October 1698 – 4 January 1782)[1] was the most prominent French architect of his generation.
Biography
Early life
Ange-Jacques Gabriel was born on October 23, 1698 to a Parisian family of architects. He was initially trained by the royal architect Robert de Cotte and his father Jacques Gabriel (who died in 1742), whom he assisted in the creation of the Place Royale (now Place de la Bourse) in Bordeaux (completed in 1735).
Career
He was made a member of the Académie royale d'architecture in 1728. He was the principal assistant to his father as Premier Architecte at Versailles from 1735 and succeeded him in the position in 1742, essentially making him the premier architect of France, a role he retained for most of the reign of Louis XV.
Gabriel's symmetrical palace-like façades for the hôtels particuliers that enclose the north side of the Place Louis XV (Place de la Concorde), Paris, were begun in 1754 and completed in 1763. That on the right housed the storerooms for the royal furnishings (mobilier de la couronne), with luxurious apartments for the intendant; it has housed the naval ministry since the court returned from Versailles in 1789.
His sober rationality in planning and detail promoted the transition from Rococo to Neoclassicism. For forty years, Gabriel supplied all designs not only for exterior construction (the "Gabriel Wing" at Versailles was named for him in modern times) and also for the constant remodeling of interiors at Versailles. His Petit Trianon at Versailles (illustration) is one of the gems of French Classicism.
Death
He died in Paris in 1782.
Major works
- Extension and transformations at the Château de Choisy, 1740–1777
- Château de Compiègne, 1750 onwards
- The Pavillon du Butard, 1750 at La Celle-Saint-Cloud.
- Place de la Bourse, Bordeaux, 1755 (as Place Royale)
- Extension of the Château de Menars (Loir-et-Cher), 1760–1764, for Madame de Pompadour
- Petit Trianon, at Versailles, 1762 to 1768
- L'École Militaire on the Champ de Mars, Paris
- L'Opéra at the Château de Versailles, 1769–70
- Place de la Concorde (as Place Louis XV), 1772
- Hôtel de la Marine, Place de la Concorde, 1775
- Hôtel de Crillon, Place de la Concorde
Notes
- ↑ Notice d'autorité personne: "Gabriel, Ange-Jacques" at the BnF website.
Bibliography
- Braham, Allan (1980). The Architecture of the French Enlightenment, pp. 38–44. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 9780520067394.
- Gallet, Michel; Bottineau, Yves (1982). Les Gabriel. Paris: Picard. ISBN 9782708400863.
- Gallet, Michel (1995). Les architectes parisiens du XVIIIe siècle: dictionnaire biographique et critique, pp. 212–224. Paris: Editions Mengès. ISBN 9782856203705.
- Kalnein, Wend von (1995). Architecture in France in the Eighteenth Century, pp. 145–160. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300060133.
- Tadgell, Christopher (1978). Ange-Jacques Gabriel (in English). London: A. Zwemmer. ISBN 9780302027813.
- Tadgell, Christopher (1982). "Gabriel, Ange Jacques", vol. 2, pp. 133–144, in Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects, 4 volumes, edited by Adolf K. Placzek. London: The Free Press. ISBN 9780029250006.
- Tadgell, Christopher (1996). "Gabriel: (3) Ange-Jacques Gabriel", vol. 11, pp. 882–884, in The Dictionary of Art, 34 volumes, edited by Jane Turner. New York: Grove. ISBN 9781884446009. Also at Oxford Art Online (subscription required).
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ange-Jacques Gabriel. |
- Ange-Jacques Gabriel at Great Buildings Online