Jean Jacques Nicolas Arveuf-Fransquin (1802–1876) was a French architect. He designed several châteaux, and undertook work on cathedrals in the French provinces.

Early years

Jean Jacques Nicolas Arveuf-Fransquin was born in Paris in 1802. He was admitted to the ''

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

'' in 1822. In 1830, he was assigned to work on the abbey church of Saint-Denis. In 1832, he won second prize in an open competition for an exhibition hall in

Tours Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 ...

. That year, he was asked to report on the cathedrals of

Auvergne Auvergne (; ; oc, label=Occitan, Auvèrnhe or ) is a former administrative region in central France, comprising the four departments of Allier, Puy-de-Dôme, Cantal and Haute-Loire. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Auverg ...

, including those of

Clermont-Ferrand Clermont-Ferrand (, ; ; oc, label=Auvergnat (dialect), Auvergnat, Clarmont-Ferrand or Clharmou ; la, Augustonemetum) is a city and Communes of France, commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions of France, region, with a population ...

Le Puy-en-Velay Le Puy-en-Velay (, literally ''Le Puy in Velay''; oc, Lo Puèi de Velai ) is the prefecture of the Haute-Loire department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of south-central France. Located near the river Loire, the city is famous for its ca ...

and

Saint-Flour, Cantal Saint-Flour (; Auvergnat: ''Sant Flor'') is a commune in the Cantal department in the Auvergne region in south-central France, around 100 km south of Clermont-Ferrand. Its inhabitants are called ''Sanflorains''. Geography The upper city ...

. He was also charged with maintenance of the Cathedrals of

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

, Chalons and Saint-Flour.

Secular architecture

Arveuf-Fransquin and the Belgian architect Jean-François Coppens (1799–1873) were given the task of building

Solvay Castle Solvay Castle (french: Château Solvay, also called ''Château de La Hulpe''), is a château located in Wallonia in the municipality of La Hulpe, Walloon Brabant, Belgium. Completed for the Marquis Maximilien de Béthune as an imposing manor hous ...

in the forest of Soinges, Belgium. It was completed in 1842. Arveuf built the

Château de Boursault The Château de Boursault is a neo-Renaissance château in Boursault, Marne, France. It was built between 1843 and 1850 by Madame Clicquot Ponsardin, the ''Veuve Clicquot'' (Cliquot Widow) who owned the Veuve Clicquot champagne house. It was sold ...

in the Marne valley for

Madame Clicquot Ponsardin Madame Clicquot, ''née'' Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin, Widow Clicquot or Veuve Clicquot (16 December 1777 – 29 July 1866), known as the "Grande Dame of Champagne", was a French Champagne producer. She took on her husband's wine business when widow ...

, the "Veuve Cliquot" who founded the champagne brand. It was located on the wooded summit of a hill planted with vines, and dominates the surrounding countryside and the village of

Boursault Boursault () is a commune of the Marne department in northeastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Marne department The following is a list of the 613 communes in the French department of Marne. The communes cooperate in the fo ...

. Construction began in 1843 and was completed in 1850.

Church architecture

In 1843, Arveuf submitted a plan for restoration of

Notre Dame de Paris Notre-Dame de Paris (; meaning "Our Lady of Paris"), referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the Seine River), in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. The cathedral, dedicated to the ...

in competition with

Jean-Charles Danjoy Jean-Charles-Léon Danjoy (31 May 1806 – 4 September 1862) was a French architect who specialized in renovating historical buildings. Biography Danjoy was born on 31 May 1806 in Avensac in the Gers department of southwestern France. In ...

and with the winning team of

Jean-Baptiste Lassus Jean-Baptiste-Antoine Lassus (19 March 1807 – 15 July 1857) was a French architect who became an expert in restoration or recreation of medieval architecture. He was a strong believer in the early Gothic architecture style, which he thought as a ...

and

Eugène Viollet-le-Duc Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc (; 27 January 181417 September 1879) was a French architect and author who restored many prominent medieval landmarks in France, including those which had been damaged or abandoned during the French Revolution. H ...

. Arveuf's design was criticized for slighting the historical in favor of the religious function. In 1844, Arveuf presented a project for a high altar for the cathedral of Clermont-Ferrand. Arveuf was made diocesan architect for

Reims Cathedral , image = Reims Kathedrale.jpg , imagealt = Facade, looking northeast , caption = Façade of the cathedral, looking northeast , pushpin map = France , pushpin map alt = Location within France , ...

in 1848. Arveuf designed the neo-Flamboyant organ case of the

Châlons Cathedral Châlons Cathedral (french: Cathédrale Saint-Étienne de Châlons) is a Roman Catholic church in Châlons-en-Champagne, France, formerly known as Châlons-sur-Marne. The cathedral is the seat of the Bishop of Châlons and was consecrated in 1147 ...

. The case was created by the cabinetmaker Etienne Gabriel Ventadour, and housed the instrument made by John Abbey, who delivered the instrument in 1849. In 1851, Arveuf built the churches of Eurville and Fayl-Billot in Haute-Marne. Viollet-le-Duc wrote of him in 1853 that he was known to be an excellent architect, and the works done under his leadership were well-planned and well-managed. However, he was working on outside projects and was not spending enough time at Reims. He was temporarily replaced by Viollet-le-Duc in 1860, and permanently replaced in 1862. He died in 1876.

References

Sources

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Arveuf-Fransquin, Jean-Jacques 1802 births 1876 deaths Architects from Paris 19th-century French architects