Louis Le Vau

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Louis Le Vau
Louis Le Vau, c. 1650
Born
Louis Le Veau

c. 1612
likely Paris, France
Died11 October 1670 (aged 57 or 58)
Paris, France
NationalityFrench
OccupationArchitect
Buildings
DesignOval salon at Vaux-le-Vicomte

Louis Le Vau (French pronunciation:

Louis XIV of France.[1] He was an architect that helped develop the French Classical style in the 17th century.[2]

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.[3] His younger brother François Le Vau (born in 1624[4]) 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).[3]

Le Vau started his career by designing the Hotel de Bautru in 1634.

hôtels particuliers) for rich citizens such as Sainctot, Hesselin, Gillier, Gruyn des Bordes, and Jean Baptiste Lambert in the île Saint-Louis, which was being developed as a residential area.[2] His most notable work during this period is the Hôtel Lambert (c. 1638–1653).[6]

Le Vau also designed country houses, including the Château de Livry (c. 1640–1645), later known as the Château du Raincy.[2][7]

Royal architect

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

Jules Cardinal Mazarin to help rebuild part of the medieval Château de Vincennes.[9]

Shortly after, in 1656 he was given the important commission to build the chateau of Nicolas Fouquet, Vaux-le-Vicomte with the help of André Le Nôtre and Charles Le Brun.[2][10] 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),[11] develops the idea that a simple form governs the shape of the main section of the building.[2]

  • Château Vau-le-Vicomte
  • Rhythmic massing of the entrance front
    Rhythmic massing of the entrance front
  • View of the garden front with the oval salon
    View of the garden front with the oval salon

In the 1660s Le Vau helped on royal projects, such as the hospital of

Classical Architecture in the 18th century.[10]

The most notable work of Le Vau's career was at the Palace of Versailles with which he was involved for the remainder of his life.[10] He added service wings to the forecourts and, after 1668, had rebuilt the garden façade to be totally classical.[2] Le Vau was assisted by François d'Orbay, 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.[10]

Le Vau's designs for the Collège des Quatre-Nations (now housing the Institut de France) were completed after his death by his assistant François d' Orbay and showed unlikely rapport with Italian baroque techniques.[2][10]

  • Versailles and the Collège des Quatre-Nations
  • Le Vau's garden front at the Château de Versailles, c. 1675
    Le Vau's garden front at the Château de Versailles, c. 1675
  • Collège des Quatre-Nations in 2014
    Collège des Quatre-Nations in 2014

Louis Le Vau died in Paris.

Notes

  1. ^ Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Louis Levau" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Encyclopedia of World Biography, "Louis Le Vau", vol. 9, pp. 360-361.
  3. ^ a b Feldmann 1996, p. 262.
  4. ^ Cojannot 2012, p. 341.
  5. ^ "Louis Le Vau: Biography of Baroque Architect". www.visual-arts-cork.com. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  6. ^ Feldmann 1996, pp. 262–264.
  7. ^ Berger 1982, p. 697.
  8. ^ Feldmann 1996, p. 264.
  9. ^ "France", Encyclopedia Britannica online. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
  10. ^
    ISBN 9780199674985
    .
  11. ^ Berger 1982, p. 695.

Bibliography

External links
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