Émile Boeswillwald (2 February 1815 – 20 March 1896) was a French architect. He succeeded

Prosper Mérimée Prosper Mérimée (; 28 September 1803 – 23 September 1870) was a French writer in the movement of Romanticism, one of the pioneers of the novella, a short novel or long short story. He was also a noted archaeologist and historian, an import ...

as Inspector General of Historic Monuments and collaborated with

Eugène Viollet-le-Duc Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc (; 27 January 181417 September 1879) was a French architect and author, famous for his restoration of the most prominent medieval landmarks in France. His major restoration projects included Notre-Dame de Paris, ...

Life

Emile Boeswillwald born in Strasbourg on 2 February 1815. He learned the trade of stonemason, continuing his apprenticeship in Munich in 1836. He then studied architecture in the workshop of

Henri Labrouste Pierre-François-Henri Labrouste () (11 May 1801 – 24 June 1875) was a French architect from the famous school of architecture. After a six-year stay in Rome, Labrouste established an architectural training workshop, which soon became ...

and at the

École des Beaux-Arts ; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centu ...

in 1837. Boeswillwald exhibited at the Salons of 1839, 1841, 1842, 1844 and 1855. In 1860 he was appointed inspector general of historical monuments. He thus became a member of the committee on historical monuments and the Council of Civil Buildings. In 1864 land was purchased beside the Villa Eugénie in

Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; also spelled ; ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spain. It is a luxu ...

on which to erect a chapel designed by Boeswillwald. The chapel, dedicated to Our Lady of Guadeloupe, was consecrated in September 1865. It incorporated an eclectic mix of Roman and Byzantine art with Hispano-Moorish elements from Seville and Granada. It was painted by

Alexandre-Dominique Denuelle Alexandre-Dominique Denuelle, a French decorative painter and architect, was born in Paris in 1818. He studied under Delaroche, and afterwards served on the Commission for Historical Monuments. He died at Florence in 1879. He was largely engaged ...

and Louis Steinheil. Boeswillwald produced a series of watercolor drawings of the soldiers of the First Empire in the years 1890–1891. The painter

Léon Bonnat Léon Joseph Florentin Bonnat (; 20 June 1833 – 8 September 1922) was a French painter, Grand Officer of the Légion d'honneur, art collector and professor at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. Early life Bonnat was born in Bayonne, but from 1846 to 1853 ...

represented his friend in 1890. Emile Boeswillwald died in Paris on 20 March 1896. His son,

Paul Boeswillwald Paul Louis Boeswillwald (October 22, 1844, in Paris – July 17, 1931, in Paris) was a French architect and art historian. Biography Son of the architect Émile Boeswillwald and father of the painter Émile Artus Boeswillwald, he was a pupil ...

, was also an architect. His grandson Émile Artus Boeswillwald was a painter.

Work

*Restoration of the Abbatial church of Notre-Dame de Mouzon *Transformation of

Château de Pontchartrain A château (, ; plural: châteaux) is a manor house, or palace, or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking reg ...

for the family of Auguste Dreyfus *Restoration of the Cathédrale Saint-Étienne de Toul, which his son, Paul, continued *Restoration of the church of Vignory *Restoration of the Abbey of Saint-Germer-de-Fly *Restoration of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Laon *Restoration of the

Sainte-Chapelle The Sainte-Chapelle (; ) is a royal chapel in the Gothic style, within the medieval Palais de la Cité, the residence of the Kings of France until the 14th century, on the Île de la Cité in the River Seine in Paris, France. Construction b ...

*Restoration of

Église Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul, Neuwiller-lès-Saverne Église Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul is the Catholic parish church of the village of Neuwiller-lès-Saverne, in the Bas-Rhin department of France. Formerly the church of a rich Benedictine abbey founded in 726, it is surrounded by buildings and ru ...

*Design of the restoration for the

Sainte-Croix de Quimperlé Abbey Sainte-Croix de Quimperlé Abbey is a former Benedictines, Benedictine abbey located in the town of Quimperlé, in the French department of Finistère, within the Brittany region. According to popular tradition, it was founded in 1029 by Saint ...

*Complete design of Xifré Downing Palace. Madrid. Spain.

Awards

*Second-class medal at the

Salon of 1849 The Salon of 1849 was an art exhibition held in Paris. It was the first to be located at the Tuileries Palace, rather than the traditional venue of the Salon at the Louvre. It was staged during the French Republic which had been established follow ...

*Knight of the Legion of Honor in 1853 *Officer of the Legion of Honor in 1865 *Commander of the Legion of Honor in 1889

Bibliography

* Co-author with

René Cagnat René Cagnat (10 October 1852 – 27 March 1937) was a French historian, a specialist of Latin epigraphy and history of North Africa during Antiquity. Biography On the death of his father, Léon Renier, a friend of the family, supported his e ...

and

Albert Ballu Albert Ballu (1 June 1849 - 3 November 1939) was a French architect. He designed many buildings in French Algeria, including the Cathédrale du Sacré-Cœur d'Oran. Education and early career Albert Ballu was the son of an architect, Théodore ...

: ''

Timgad Timgad (, known as Marciana Traiana Thamugadi) was a Roman city in the Aurès Mountains of Algeria. It was founded by the Roman Emperor Trajan around 100 AD. The full name of the city was ''Colonia Marciana Ulpia Traiana Thamugadi''. Emperor ...

, une cité africaine sous l'Empire romain'', Paris, 1895–1905, E. Leroux
(available on Gallica)

References

Citations Sources * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Boeswillwald, Emile Architects from Strasbourg 1815 births 1896 deaths French art historians 19th-century French architects