Jean Baptiste Mathey (1630–1696) was a French

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

and painter born in

Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earlies ...

. Between 1675 and 1694 Mathey enjoyed a remarkable career in which his French planning and devotion to classical rationality (as opposed to the luxuriance of

Italian Baroque Italian Baroque (or ''Barocco'') is a stylistic period in Italian history and art that spanned from the late 16th century to the early 18th century. History The early 17th century marked a time of change for those of the Roman Catholic religion ...

) were a conscious artistic challenge to established taste. Mathey was commissioned by the Archbishop of

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

, Johann Friedrich, to construct the Chateau Troja. His plans were also probably used for the construction of the Church of Saint Roch in the Prague then-suburb of

Žižkov Žižkov is a cadastral district of Prague, Czech Republic. Most of Žižkov lies in the municipal and administrative district of Prague 3, except for very small parts which are in Prague 8 and Prague 10. Prior to 1922, Žižkov was an indep ...

Rebuilding the Castle of Dux

Count of Waldstein, later the Archbishop of Prague, was apprised with Mathey and brought him to

Duchcov Duchcov (; german: Dux) is a town in Teplice District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 8,600 inhabitants. Duchcov is known for the Duchcov Castle. The historic town centre with the castle complex is well preserve ...

for the purpose of rebuilding the Castle of Dux. 1630 births 1696 deaths Artists from Dijon 17th-century French architects 17th-century French painters French male painters Architects from Dijon {{france-artist-stub