Joseph-Louis Duc () (25 October 1802 – 22 January 1879) was a French architect. Duc came to prominence early, with his very well received work at the July Column in Paris, and spent much of the rest of his career on a single building complex, the Palais de Justice.

Biography

Born in Paris, Duc was educated at the

École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts The Beaux-Arts de Paris is a French '' grande école'' whose primary mission is to provide high-level arts education and training. This is classical and historical School of Fine Arts in France. The art school, which is part of the Paris Scien ...

in Paris, where he was a student of Percier. Duc took the

Prix de Rome The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them t ...

in 1825 for a design of a proposed Paris City Hall. During his three-year stay at the

Villa de Medici The Villa Medici () is a Mannerist villa and an architectural complex with a garden contiguous with the larger Borghese gardens, on the Pincian Hill next to Trinità dei Monti in Rome, Italy. The Villa Medici, founded by Ferdinando I de' Medic ...

in Rome his associates there included

Félix Duban Jacques Félix Duban () (14 October 1798, Paris – 8 October 1870, Bordeaux) was a French architect, the contemporary of Jacques Ignace Hittorff and Henri Labrouste. Life and career Duban won the Prix de Rome in 1823, the most prestigious aw ...

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

Léon Vaudoyer Léon Vaudoyer () (7 June 1803 – 9 February 1872) was a French architect. Biography Vaudoyer was born in Paris, the son of architect Antoine Vaudoyer. He was one of the "romantic" Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts architects influenced by ...

. Upon his return from Rome Duc's first significant commission was the decoration for the July Column, built from 1831 to 1840. Appointed as assistant to

Jean-Antoine Alavoine Jean-Antoine Alavoine (4 January 1778 – 15 November 1834) was a French architect best known for his column in the Place de la Bastille, Paris (1831–1840), the July Column to memorialize those fallen in the Revolution of 1830. The column, cons ...

, Duc took over the entire project on Alavoine's death in 1834. The foundation of the column is Alavoine's work; the column itself is acknowledged as solely Duc's work. Photo July Column by night Paris France 2007-09-09

Photo July Column by night Paris France 2007-09-09

Immediately after the dedication of the July Column in mid-1840, Duc was awarded the position of architect for the Palais de Justice by the respected Antoine Vaudoyer, member of the

Institut de France The (; ) is a French learned society, grouping five , including the Académie Française. It was established in 1795 at the direction of the National Convention. Located on the Quai de Conti in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, the institut ...

and father of Duc's friend, Léon. With the appointment Duc simultaneously was made a Knight of the

Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

. Duc would spend his remaining thirty-nine years renovating and extending the Palais de Justice, for instance designing the

Cour de Cassation A court of cassation is a high-instance court that exists in some judicial systems. Courts of cassation do not re-examine the facts of a case, they only interpret the relevant law. In this they are appellate courts of the highest instance. In t ...

. Almost completed at the time of the

Paris Commune The Paris Commune (french: Commune de Paris, ) was a revolutionary government that seized power in Paris, the capital of France, from 18 March to 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard had defende ...

, the complex was burned on 24 May 1871 and partially destroyed. Duc's other commissions, though rare, include the 1862 chapel of the small college Louis-le-Grand, now the Lycée Michelet, in

Vanves Vanves () is a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. It is one of the most densely populated municipalities in Europe and the tenth in France History On 1 January 1860, the city of Paris ...

. Duc received the

Royal Gold Medal The Royal Gold Medal for architecture is awarded annually by the Royal Institute of British Architects on behalf of the British monarch, in recognition of an individual's or group's substantial contribution to international architecture. It is gi ...

from the

Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three supp ...

in 1867, was elevated to Commander of the

,''Transactions'' of the Royal Institute of British Architects, page 210 and was elected to 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, ...

in 1879. He is buried at Montmartre Cemetery.

References

list of commissions on Structurae
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duc, Joseph-Louis 1802 births 1879 deaths 19th-century French architects École des Beaux-Arts alumni Prix de Rome for architecture Burials at Montmartre Cemetery Members of the Académie des beaux-arts Architects from Paris Commandeurs of the Légion d'honneur