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, and one of the pioneers of the novella, a short novel or long short story. He was also a noted archaeologist and historian, and a ...

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 who restored many prominent medieval landmarks in France, including those which had been damaged or abandoned during the French Revolution. H ...

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 École des Beaux-Arts school of architecture. After a six-year stay in Rome, Labrouste established an architectural training worksh ...

and at 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 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 A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became sm ...

Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; Basque also ; oc, Biàrritz ) 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. ...

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 Louis Charles Auguste Steinheil (born Strasbourg, 26 June 1814; died Paris, 17 May 1885) was a French painter. Biography Louis Steinheil studied with Henri Decaisne and painted in nearly every medium, but gave special attention to glass painti ...

. 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 and professor at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. Early life Bonnat was born in Bayonne, but from 1846 to 1853 he lived in M ...

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

Paul Boeswillwald Paul Louis Boeswillwald (Paris, October 22, 1844 - Paris, July 17, 1931) was a French people, French architect and Art history, art historian. Biography Son of the architect Émile Boeswillwald and father of the painter Émile Artus Boeswillwa ...

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

Work

*Restoration of the Abbey of Mouzon *Transformation of

Château de Pontchartrain The Château de Pontchartrain is mainly in the municipality of Jouars-Pontchartrain within Yvelines, in the west of the Île de France region of France. The west end of its domain (a throwback term for grounds equivalent to demesne: a personal e ...

for the family of

Auguste Dreyfus Auguste Dreyfus (28 June 1827 – 25 May 1897) was a French businessman who made his fortune by financing the Peruvian trade in guano. Dreyfus joined a small textile trading firm set up by three of his elder brothers and moved to Lima, Peru to act ...

*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 Saint-Germer-de-Fly Abbey is a former Benedictine abbey located in the village of Saint-Germer-de-Fly, in Picardy in the Oise département of France. Only the late Romanesque-early Gothic church remains, now the village parish church. It is re ...

*Restoration of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Laon *Restoration of the

Sainte-Chapelle The Sainte-Chapelle (; en, Holy Chapel) 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. Co ...

*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 rui ...

Awards

*Second-class medal at the Salon in 1849 *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 ...

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 ( ar, تيمقاد, links=, lit=, translit=Tīmgād, 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 ''Colon ...

, 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