Franz Christian Gau (15 June 1790, in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

– January 1854, in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

) was a French architect and archaeologist of German descent. In 1809 he entered the

Académie des Beaux-Arts An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

, Paris, and in 1815 visited Italy and

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

. In 1817 he went to

Nubia Nubia () (Nobiin: Nobīn, ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the first cataract of the Nile (just south of Aswan in southern Egypt) and the confluence of the Blue and White Niles (in Khartoum in central Sudan), or ...

, and while there he made drawings and measurements of all the more important monuments of that country, his ambition being to produce a work which should supplement the great work of the French expedition in Egypt. The result of his labours appeared in a

folio The term "folio" (), has three interconnected but distinct meanings in the world of books and printing: first, it is a term for a common method of arranging sheets of paper into book form, folding the sheet only once, and a term for a book ma ...

volume (Stuttgart and Paris, 1822), entitled ''Antiquitiés de la Nubie ou monuments inédits des bords du Nil, situés entre la première et la seconde cataracte, dessinés et mesurés in 1819''. It consists of sixty-eight plates, of plans, sections, and views, and was received as an authority. His next publication was the completion of Francois Mazois's work on the ruins of

Pompeii Pompeii (, ) was an ancient city located in what is now the ''comune'' of Pompei near Naples in the Campania region of Italy. Pompeii, along with Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area (e.g. at Boscoreale, Stabiae), was buried ...

. In 1825 Gau was

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...

as a French citizen, and later became

Architect of the City of Paris The Architect of the City of Paris (''Architecte de la ville de Paris'') is the incumbent of a municipal position, responsible for the design and construction of civic projects in Paris. In the Ancien Régime in France, the position of Bâtiments ...

. He directed the restoration of the churches of

Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre, in full Église Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre (French for ''Church of Saint Julian the Poor''), is a Melkite Greek Catholic parish church in Paris, France, and one of the city's oldest religious buildings. Begun in Romanesque styl ...

, and Saint-Séverin, and built the great prison of La Roquette, etc. With his name also is associated the revival of

Gothic architecture Gothic architecture (or pointed architecture) is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It e ...

in Paris - he having designed and commenced, in 1846, the erection of the Church of Sainte-Clotilde, the first modern church erected in the capital in that style. Illness compelled him to relinquish the care of supervising the work, and he died before its completion. Gau was mentor to

Gottfried Semper Gottfried Semper (; 29 November 1803 – 15 May 1879) was a German architect, art critic, and professor of architecture who designed and built the Semper Opera House in Dresden between 1838 and 1841. In 1849 he took part in the May Uprising in ...

Sources

* The entry cites: **''Imperial Dict. Univ. Biog.''; **Michaud, ''Biog. Univ.'' 1790 births Architects from Cologne 1854 deaths Archaeologists from North Rhine-Westphalia Naturalized citizens of France Architects from Paris École des Beaux-Arts alumni Burials at Montmartre Cemetery {{Germany-architect-stub