Laurent-Benoît Dewez (14 April 1731 – 1 November 1812) was a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

architect of Walloon origin. He is considered the most influential architect in the

Austrian Netherlands The Austrian Netherlands nl, Oostenrijkse Nederlanden; french: Pays-Bas Autrichiens; german: Österreichische Niederlande; la, Belgium Austriacum. was the territory of the Burgundian Circle of the Holy Roman Empire between 1714 and 1797. The pe ...

(present-day Belgium) from the second half of the 18th century. His architectural projects are of international stature and introduced a neoclassical style, with Italian and English influences, to the region. He designed a large number of

château A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house 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 regions. Now ...

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The con ...

s and churches in Belgium, many of which were damaged after the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

Early life

Dewez was born in Petit-Rechain near

Verviers Verviers (; wa, Vervî) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Ensival, Heusy, Lambermont, Petit-Rechain, Stembert, and Verviers. It is also ...

on 14 April 1731. The abbot of the Abbey of

Saint Hubert Hubertus or Hubert ( 656 – 30 May 727 A.D.) was a Christian saint who became the first bishop of Liège in 708 A.D. He is the patron saint of hunters, mathematicians, opticians and metalworkers. Known as the "Apostle of the Ardennes", he w ...

sent him on a study trip to Italy. There he worked with

Luigi Vanvitelli Luigi Vanvitelli (; 12 May 1700 – 1 March 1773), known in Dutch as (), was an Italian architect and painter. The most prominent 18th-century architect of Italy, he practised a sober classicising academic Late Baroque style that made an eas ...

and came into contact with

Robert Adam Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him. With his ...

Giovanni Battista Piranesi Giovanni Battista (or Giambattista) Piranesi (; also known as simply Piranesi; 4 October 1720 – 9 November 1778) was an Italian Classical archaeologist, architect, and artist, famous for his etchings of Rome and of fictitious and atmospheric ...

Johann Joachim Winckelmann Johann Joachim Winckelmann (; ; 9 December 17178 June 1768) was a German art historian and archaeologist. He was a pioneering Hellenist who first articulated the differences between Greek, Greco-Roman and Roman art. "The prophet and foundin ...

and

Charles-Louis Clérisseau Charles-Louis Clérisseau (28 August 1721 – 9 January 1820) was a French architect, draughtsman, antiquary, and artist who became a leading authority on ancient Roman architecture and Roman ruins in Italy and France. With his influence extending t ...

. After a subsequent study trip to

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, entertai ...

in the company of

he worked briefly as an associate of the Adam brothers in London in 1758. In 1759 he came back to the

to start the rebuilding of Abbaye Notre-Dame d'Orval, a work which was never completed.

Professional life

In 1760 he settled in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. He mainly worked for abbeys and nobility in the

. In 1767 he was appointed court architect to the Governor of the

, Charles-Alexandre de Lorraine for whom he built the Castle of Mariemont which was demolished in the aftermath of the

. A masterpiece still preserved today is the Château de Seneffe built between 1763 and 1768. His last great project was the new State Prison in

Vilvoorde Vilvoorde (, french: Vilvorde ; historically known as ''Filford'' in English) is a Belgian municipality in the Flemish province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality comprises the city of Vilvoorde proper with its two outlying quarters of Koningslo ...

. Dewez's adversaries, envious of his success as court architect, accused him of failures and fraud in the execution of this project. Due to these accusations, he fell into disfavour and was dismissed as court architect. On the invasion of the Austrian Netherlands by French revolutionary troops in 1793, Dewez fled to

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 ...

. In the Czech capital, he designed and built some private mansions for the local bourgeoisie. In 1804 he returned to Belgium. He died relatively impoverished in

Groot-Bijgaarden Groot-Bijgaarden (officially) or Grand-Bigard is a village and deelgemeente in the municipality of Dilbeek, a suburb of Brussels, in Flanders, Belgium. Toponymy The name Bijgaarden is derived from the Germanic word for enclosure. The appellation ...

on 1 November 1812. His tombstone with a brief Latin description of his life and work, can still be seen in the exterior wall of the church of Groot-Bijgaarden.

Buildings designed

Abbey of Affligem Affligem Abbey ( nl, Abdij Affligem, french: Abbaye d'Affligem) is a Benedictine abbey in the municipality of Affligem, Flemish Brabant, Belgium, to the north-west of Brussels. Dedicated in 1086, it was the most important monastery in the Duch ...

(demolished) * Abbaye Notre-Dame d'Orval (demolished) *Abbey of Dielegem in

Jette Jette (, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the north-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Ganshoren, Koekelberg, and Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, as well as the Flemi ...

near

(partly demolished) * Abbey of Forest * Vlierbeek Abbey *Abbey of Opheylissem today

Hélécine Hélécine (; wa, Élessene; nl, Heylissem / Heilissem, ) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the Belgian province of Walloon Brabant. On 1 January 2006 Hélécine had a total population of 3,068. The total area is 16.62 km² which give ...

Abbey of Gembloux Gembloux Abbey was a Benedictine abbey in Wallonia near the town of Gembloux in the province of Namur, Belgium. Since 1860, its buildings host the University of Liège's Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech faculty and campus (previously known as Agronomical Un ...

*Abbot's palace of the Abbey of Tournai, today Hôtel de Ville. * Abbey church of Bonne-Espérance. *Church of

Harelbeke Harelbeke (; vls, Oarlbeke) is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Harelbeke proper and the towns of Bavikhove and Hulste. On January 1, 2019, Harelbeke had a total pop ...

*Church of Andenne *Château de

Wasseiges Wasseiges (; wa, Wazedje) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. On January 1, 2006, Wasseiges had a total population of 2,517. The total area is 24.45 km² which gives a population density of 103 inhabi ...

(demolished) * Château de Seneffe *Château de Mariemont (demolished) *State Prison of

References

* Kevin Brown, ''Artist and Patrons: Court Art and Revolution in Brussels at the end of the Ancien Regime''
Dutch Crossing, Taylor and Francis
(2017). *Léon Dewez, 'Laurent-Benoit Dewez: premier architecte de la Cour de Bruxelles sous Charles de Lorraine', 1731–1812, in: ''Annales de la Société royale d'archéologie de Bruxelles''. - 35(1930); pp. 65–94. *Cathérine de Braekeleer, ''Laurent-Benoît Dewez 1731–1812'', Seneffe, 1992. *H. Gerson and E. H. ter Kuile, ''Art and Architecture in Belgium, 1600–1800'', Harmondsworth, England, 1960. Image:0 Château Royal de Laeken.JPG, Royal Castle of Laeken Image:SeneffeHinten.jpg, Château de Seneffe garden side Image:0 Seneffe 050813 (38).JPG, Château de Seneffe,

Orangerie An orangery or orangerie was a room or a dedicated building on the grounds of fashionable residences of Northern Europe from the 17th to the 19th centuries where orange and other fruit trees were protected during the winter, as a very lar ...

Image:Bonne-Esperance Basilique.jpg, Abbey Church of Bonne-Espérance (with medieval tower) Image:Vellereilles-les-Brayeux Bonne-Espérance 060110 (27).JPG, Abbey Church of Bonne-Espérance Image:070215 Tournai (46).JPG, Town hall (former Abbey) of Tournai Image:01 Tournai AB1aJPG.jpg, Town hall (former Abbey) of Tournai Image:Forest 060106 (14).JPG, Abbey of Forest, Entrance gate Image:VorstAbdij1.JPG, Abbess residence of the Abbey of

Forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

Image:Harelbeke Sint-Salvatorkerk -4.JPG, Saint-Salvator Church in

Image:Harelbeke Sint-Salvatorkerk -12.JPG, Saint-Salvator Church in

Image:Harelbeke Sint-Salvatorkerk -13.JPG, Saint-Salvator Church in

Image:Harelbeke Sint-Salvatorkerk -18.JPG, Saint-Salvator Church in

(nave) Image:Harelbeke Sint-Salvatorkerk -21.JPG, Saint-Salvator Church in

(side aisle) Image:Andenne 050802 (24).JPG, Andenne, Interior of the Church Image:Andenne 050802 (26).JPG, Andenne, Interior of the Church {{DEFAULTSORT:Dewez, Laurent-Benoit 1731 births 1812 deaths Architects of the Austrian Netherlands People from Verviers