Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc (; 27 January 181417 September 1879) 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 author, famous for his restoration of the most prominent
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...
landmarks in France. His major restoration projects included
Notre-Dame de Paris
Notre-Dame de Paris ( ; meaning "Cathedral of Our Lady of Paris"), often referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a Medieval architecture, medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the River Seine), in the 4th arrondissemen ...
, the
Basilica of Saint Denis,
Mont Saint-Michel
Mont-Saint-Michel (; Norman: ''Mont Saint Miché''; ) is a tidal island and mainland commune in Normandy, France.
The island lies approximately off France's north-western coast, at the mouth of the Couesnon River near Avranches and is i ...
,
Sainte-Chapelle
The Sainte-Chapelle (; ) 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.
Construction b ...
, the medieval walls of the city of
Carcassonne
Carcassonne is a French defensive wall, fortified city in the Departments of France, department of Aude, Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania. It is the prefectures in France, prefecture of the department.
...
, and
Roquetaillade castle in the Bordeaux region.
His writings on decoration and on the relationship between form and function in architecture had a fundamental influence on a whole new generation of architects, including all the major
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...
artists:
Antoni Gaudí
Antoni Gaudí i Cornet ( , ; ; 25 June 1852 – 10 June 1926) was a Catalans, Catalan architect and designer from Spain, widely known as the greatest exponent of Catalan ''Modernisme''. Gaudí's works have a style, with most located in Barc ...
,
Victor Horta,
Hector Guimard
Hector Guimard (, 10 March 1867 – 20 May 1942) was a French architect and designer, and a prominent figure of the Art Nouveau style. He achieved early fame with his design for the Castel Beranger, the first Art Nouveau apartment building i ...
,
Henry van de Velde,
Henri Sauvage and the
École de Nancy,
Paul Hankar,
Otto Wagner,
Eugène Grasset
Eugène Samuel Grasset (; 25 May 1845 – 23 October 1917) was a Swiss decorative artist who worked in Paris, France in a variety of creative design fields during the Belle Époque. He is considered a pioneer in Art Nouveau design.
Biography
...
,
Émile Gallé
Émile Gallé (; 4 May 1846 in Nancy, France, Nancy – 23 September 1904 in Nancy) was a French artist and designer who worked in glass, and is considered to be one of the major innovators in the French Art Nouveau movement. He was noted fo ...
, and
Hendrik Petrus Berlage
Hendrik Petrus Berlage (; 21 February 185612 August 1934) was a Dutch architect and designer. He is considered one of the fathers of the architecture of the Amsterdam School.
Life and work
Hendrik Petrus Berlage, son of Nicolaas Willem Ber ...
. He also influenced the first modern architects,
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright Sr. (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed List of Frank Lloyd Wright works, more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key ...
,
Mies van der Rohe
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ( ; ; born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies; March 27, 1886August 17, 1969) was a German-American architect, academic, and interior designer. He was commonly referred to as Mies, his surname. He is regarded as one of the pionee ...
,
Auguste Perret,
Louis Sullivan
Louis Henry Sullivan (September 3, 1856 – April 14, 1924) was an American architect, and has been called a "father of skyscrapers" and "father of modernism". He was an influential architect of the Chicago school (architecture), Chicago ...
, and
Le Corbusier
Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , ; ), was a Swiss-French architectural designer, painter, urban planner and writer, who was one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture ...
, who considered Viollet-le-Duc as the father of modern architecture. English architect
William Burges
William Burges (; 2 December 1827 – 20 April 1881) was an English architect and designer. Among the greatest of the Victorian era, Victorian art-architects, he sought in his work to escape from both nineteenth-century Industrial Revolution, ...
claimed that "We all cribbed on Viollet-le-Duc even though no one could read French".
His writings also influenced
John Ruskin
John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English polymath a writer, lecturer, art historian, art critic, draughtsman and philanthropist of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as art, architecture, Critique of politic ...
,
William Morris
William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer, poet, artist, writer, and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditiona ...
, and the
Arts and Crafts movement
The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and America.
Initiat ...
.
At the
International Exhibition of 1862 in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, the aesthetic works of
Edward Burne-Jones
Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet, (; 28 August 183317 June 1898) was an English painter and designer associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood's style and subject matter.
Burne-Jones worked with William Morris as a founding part ...
,
Christina Rossetti
Christina Georgina Rossetti (5 December 1830 – 29 December 1894) was an English writer of romanticism, romantic, devotional and children's poems, including "Goblin Market" and "Remember". She also wrote the words of two Christmas carols well k ...
,
Philip Webb
Philip Speakman Webb (12 January 1831 – 17 April 1915) was a British architect and designer sometimes called the Father of Arts and Crafts Architecture. His use of vernacular architecture demonstrated his commitment to "the art of common ...
, William Morris,
Simeon Solomon
Simeon Solomon (9 October 1840 – 14 August 1905) was a British painter associated with the Pre-Raphaelites who was noted for his depictions of Jewish life and same-sex desire. His career was cut short as a result of public scandal following h ...
, and
Edward Poynter
Sir Edward John Poynter, 1st Baronet (20 March 183626 July 1919) was an English painter, designer, and Drawing, draughtsman, who served as President of the Royal Academy.
Life
Poynter was the son of architect Ambrose Poynter. He was born in P ...
were directly influenced from drawings in Viollet-le-Duc's Dictionary.
Youth and education
Viollet-le-Duc was born in Paris in 1814. His grandfather was an architect, and his father was a high-ranking civil servant, who in 1816 became the overseer of the royal residences of Louis XVIII. His uncle
Étienne-Jean Delécluze was a painter, a former student of
Jacques-Louis David
Jacques-Louis David (; 30 August 1748 – 29 December 1825) was a French painter in the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the era. In the 1780s, his cerebral brand of history painting marked a change in ...
, an art critic and hosted a literary salon, which was attended by
Stendhal
Marie-Henri Beyle (; 23 January 1783 – 23 March 1842), better known by his pen name Stendhal (, , ), was a French writer. Best known for the novels ''Le Rouge et le Noir'' ('' The Red and the Black'', 1830) and ''La Chartreuse de Parme'' ('' T ...
and
Sainte-Beuve. His mother hosted her own salon, which women could attend as well as men. There, in 1822 or 1823, Eugène met
Prosper Mérimée
Prosper Mérimée (; 28 September 1803 – 23 September 1870) was a French writer in the movement of Romanticism, one of the pioneers of the novella, a short novel or long short story. He was also a noted archaeologist and historian, an import ...
, a writer who would play a decisive role in his career.
[
In 1825 he began his education at the Pension Moran, in ]Fontenay-aux-Roses
Fontenay-aux-Roses () is a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.
In 1880, a girls school was opened in the town. It was one of the most prestigious of Paris and even of whole France in t ...
. He returned to Paris in 1829 as a student at the college de Bourbon (now the Lycée Condorcet
The Lycée Condorcet () is a secondary school in Paris, France, located at 8, rue du Havre, in the city's 9th arrondissement. Founded in 1803, it is one of the four oldest high schools in Paris and also one of the most prestigious. Since its inc ...
). He passed his baccalaureate examination in 1830. His uncle urged him to enter the École des Beaux-Arts
; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centu ...
, which had been created in 1806, but the ''École '' had an extremely rigid system, based entirely on copying classical models, and Eugène was not interested. Instead he decided to get practical experience in the architectural offices of Jacques-Marie Huvé and Achille Leclère, while devoting much of his time to drawing medieval churches and monuments around Paris.
At sixteen he participated in the July 1830 revolution which overthrew Charles X Charles X may refer to:
* Charles X of France (1757–1836)
* Charles X Gustav (1622–1660), King of Sweden
* Charles, Cardinal de Bourbon (1523–1590), recognized as Charles X of France but renounced the royal title
See also
*
* King Charle ...
, building a barricade. Following the revolution, which brought Louis Philippe to power, his father became chief of the bureau of royal residences. The new government created, for the first time, the position of Inspector General of Historic Monuments. Eugène's uncle Delécluze agreed to take Eugène on a long tour of France to see monuments. They travelled from July to October 1831 throughout the south of France, and he returned with a large collection of detailed paintings and watercolours of churches and monuments.
On his return to Paris, he moved with his family into the Tuileries Palace
The Tuileries Palace (, ) was a palace in Paris which stood on the right bank of the Seine, directly in the west-front of the Louvre Palace. It was the Parisian residence of most French monarchs, from Henri IV to Napoleon III, until it was b ...
, where his father was now governor of royal residences. His family again urged him to attend the École des Beaux-Arts, but he still refused. He wrote in his journal in December 1831, "the ''École'' is just a mould for architects. they all come out practically identical." He was a talented and meticulous artist; he travelled around France to visit monuments, cathedrals, and other medieval architecture, made detailed drawings and watercolours. In 1834, at the age of twenty, he married Élisabeth Templier, and in the same year he was named an associate professor of ornamental decoration at the Royal School of Decorative Arts, which gave him a more regular income. His first pupils there included Léon Gaucherel.
With the money from the sale of his drawings and paintings, Viollet-le-Duc set off on a long tour of the monuments of Italy, visiting Rome, Venice, Florence and other sites, drawing and painting. In 1838, he presented several of his drawings at the Paris Salon
The Salon (), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial art event in the Western world. At the ...
, and began making a travel book, ''Picturesque and romantic images of the old France'', for which, between 1838 and 1844, he made nearly three hundred engravings.
First architectural restorations
In October 1838, with the recommendation of Achille Leclère, the architect with whom he had trained, he was named deputy inspector of the enlargement of the Hôtel Soubise, the new home of the French National Archives. His uncle, Delécluze, then recommended him to the new Commission of Historic Monuments of France, led by Prosper Mérimée
Prosper Mérimée (; 28 September 1803 – 23 September 1870) was a French writer in the movement of Romanticism, one of the pioneers of the novella, a short novel or long short story. He was also a noted archaeologist and historian, an import ...
, who had just published a book on medieval French monuments. Though he was just twenty-four years old and had no degree in architecture, he was asked to go to Narbonne
Narbonne ( , , ; ; ; Late Latin:) is a commune in Southern France in the Occitanie region. It lies from Paris in the Aude department, of which it is a sub-prefecture. It is located about from the shores of the Mediterranean Sea and was ...
to propose a plan for the completion of the cathedral there. The project was rejected by the local authorities as too ambitious and too expensive.
His first real project was a restoration of the Vézelay Abbey
Vézelay Abbey () is a Order of St. Benedict, Benedictine and Cluniac monastery in Vézelay in the east-central French department of Yonne. It was constructed between 1120 and 1150. The Benedictine abbey church, now the Basilica of Sainte-Marie-Ma ...
, which many considered as impossible. The church had been sacked by the Huguenots
The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...
in 1569, and during the French Revolution, the facade and statuary on the facade were destroyed. The vaults of the roof were weakened, and many of the stones had been carried off for other projects. When Mérimée visited to inspect the structure he heard stones falling around him. In February 1840 he gave Viollet-le-Duc the mission of restoring and reconstructing the church so it would not collapse, while "respecting exactly in his project of restoration all the ancient dispositions of the church".
The task was all the more difficult because up until that time no scientific studies had been made of medieval building techniques, and there were no schools of restoration. He had no plans for the original building to work from. Viollet-le-Duc had to discover the flaws of construction that had caused the building to start to collapse in the first place and to construct a more solid and stable structure. He lightened the roof and built new arches to stabilize the structure, and slightly changed the shape of the vaults and arches. He was criticized for these modifications in the 1960s, though, as his defenders pointed out, without them the roof would have collapsed under its own weight. Mérimée's deputy, Lenormant, inspected the construction and reported to Mérimée: "The young Leduc seems entirely worthy of your confidence. He needed a magnificent audacity to take charge of such a desperate enterprise; it's certain that he arrived just in time, and if we had waited only ten years the church would have been a pile of stones." This restoration work lasted 19 years.
Sainte-Chapelle and Amboise
Viollet-le-Duc's success at Vezelay led to a large series of projects. In 1840, in collaboration with his friend the architect 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 ...
he began the restoration of Sainte-Chapelle
The Sainte-Chapelle (; ) 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.
Construction b ...
in Paris, which had been turned into a storage depot after the Revolution. In February 1843, King Louis Philippe sent him to the Château of Amboise, to restore the stained glass windows in the chapel holding the tomb of Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 1452 - 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested o ...
. The windows were unfortunately destroyed in 1940 during World War II.
In 1843, Mérimée took Viollet-le-Duc with him to Burgundy and the south of France, on one of his long inspection tours of monuments. Viollet-le-Duc made drawings of the buildings and wrote detailed accounts of each site, illustrated with his drawing, which were published in architectural journals. With his experience he became the most prominent academic scholar on French medieval architecture and his medieval dictionnary, with over 4000 drawings, contains the largest iconography on the subject to this day.
Notre-Dame de Paris
File:ND de Paris avant 1841.jpg, Facade about 1841, pre-restoration
File:Lassus, Viollet-le-Duc - Projet de restauration de Notre-Dame de Paris - page 4.jpg, Proposed doorway decoration
File:Notre Dame de Paris, East View 140207 1.jpg, View of the spire of Notre-Dame restored by Viollet-le-Duc
File:Treasury of Notre Dame Cathedral.jpg, The treasury of the cathedral, designed by Viollet-le-Duc to replace destroyed Archbishop's residence (1849)
File:Notre Dame Cathedral- Window of Chapelle Saint-Clotilde by Eugene Viollet-le-Duc.jpg, Window of the Chapel of Saint-Clotilde designed by Viollet-le-Duc (1864)
File:Vue.interieure.travee.cathedrale.Paris.png, Drawing of the interior traverse
File:Viollet-le-Duc, les visions d'un architecte (4).jpg, Choir gate designed by Viollet-le-Duc
File:Reliquaire du Clou et du Bois de la Croix.jpg, Reliquary designed by Viollet-le-Duc
File:Fleche.Notre.Dame.Paris.png, Drawing of the spire
File:Notre-Dame de Paris 086.jpg, Saint Thomas on the spire, resembling Viollet-le-Duc
In 1844, with the backing of Mérimée, Viollet-le-Duc, just thirty years old, and Lassus, then thirty-seven, won a competition for the restoration of Notre-Dame Cathedral which lasted twenty-five years. Their project involved primarily the facade, where many of the statues over the portals had been beheaded or smashed during the Revolution. They proposed two major changes to the interior: rebuilding two of the bays to their original medieval height of four storeys, and removing the marble neoclassical structures and decoration which had been added to the choir during the reign of Louis XIV. Mérimée warned them to be careful: "In such a project, one cannot act with too much prudence or discretion...A restoration may be more disastrous for a monument than the ravages of centuries." The Commission on Historical Monuments approved most of Viollet-le-Duc's plans, but rejected his proposal to remove the choir built under Louis XIV. Viollet-le-Duc himself turned down a proposal to add two new spires atop the towers, arguing that such a monument "would be remarkable but would not be Notre-Dame de Paris". Instead, he proposed to rebuild the original medieval spire and bell tower over the transept, which had been removed in 1786 because it was unstable in the wind.
Once the project was approved, Viollet-le-Duc made drawings and photographs of the existing decorative elements; then they were removed and a stream of sculptors began making new statues of saints, gargoyles, chimeras and other architectural elements in a workshop he established, working from his drawings and photographs of similar works in other cathedrals of the same period.[A. Trintignac and M.J. Coloni, ''Decouvrir Notre-Dame de Paris'' Les Editions du Cerf, 1984, , p. 260.] He also designed a new treasury in the Gothic style to serve as the museum of the cathedral, replacing the residence of the Archbishop, which had been destroyed in a riot in 1831.
The bells in the two towers had been taken out in 1791 and melted down to make cannons. Viollet-le-Duc had new bells cast for the north tower and a new structure built inside to support them. Viollet-le-Duc and Lassus also rebuilt the sacristy, on the south side of the church, which had been built in 1756, but had been burned by rioters during the July Revolution
The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution (), Second French Revolution, or ("Three Glorious ays), was a second French Revolution after French Revolution, the first of 1789–99. It led to the overthrow of King Cha ...
of 1830. The new spire was completed, taller and more strongly built to withstand the weather; it was decorated with statues of the apostles, and the face of Saint Thomas, patron saint of architects, bore a noticeable resemblance to Viollet-le-Duc. The spire was destroyed on 15 April 2019, as a result of the Notre-Dame de Paris fire.
File:Bayard, Hippolyte - Notre-Dame de Paris (2) (Zeno Fotografie).jpg, The southern façade of Notre-Dame pictured in 1847, early in the restoration.
File:Édouard Baldus - Notre-Dame de Paris.jpg, The western façade of Notre-Dame pictured in the early 1860s towards the end of the restoration. The spire has been rebuilt and the statues of the kings are only partially restored.
Saint-Denis and Amiens
When not engaged in Paris, Viollet-le-Duc continued his long tours into the French provinces, inspecting and checking the progress of more than twenty different restoration projects that were under his control, including seven in Burgundy alone. New projects included the Basilica of Saint-Sernin, Toulouse
The Basilica of Saint-Sernin ( Occitan: ''Basilica de Sant Sarnin'') is a church in Toulouse, France, the former abbey church of the Abbey of Saint-Sernin or St Saturnin. Apart from the church, none of the abbey buildings remain. The current chu ...
, and the Basilica of Saint-Denis
The Basilica of Saint-Denis (, now formally known as the ) is a large former medieval abbey church and present cathedral in the commune of Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris. The building is of singular importance historically and archite ...
just outside Paris. Saint-Denis had undergone a restoration by a different architect, Francois Debret, who had rebuilt one of the two towers. However, in 1846, the new tower, overloaded with masonry, began to crack, and Viollet-le-Duc was called in. He found no way the building could be saved and had to oversee the demolition of the tower, saving the stones. He concentrated on restoring the interior of the church, and was able to restore the original burial chamber of the kings of France.
In May 1849, he was named the architect for the restoration of Amiens Cathedral
The Cathedral of Our Lady of Amiens (), or simply Amiens Cathedral, is a Catholic Church, Catholic cathedral. The cathedral is the seat of the Bishop of Amiens. It is situated on a slight ridge overlooking the River Somme in Amiens, the administra ...
, one of the largest in France, which had been built over many centuries in a variety of different styles. He wrote, "his goal should be to save in each part of the monument its own character, and yet to make it so that the united parts don't conflict with each other; and that can be maintained in a state that is durable and simple."
Imperial projects: Carcassonne, Vincennes and Pierrefonds
File:Carcasonneouterwall.jpg, The walled town of Carcassonne
Carcassonne is a French defensive wall, fortified city in the Departments of France, department of Aude, Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania. It is the prefectures in France, prefecture of the department.
...
(restored 1853–1879)
File:Donjon of Château de Vincennes, South-West View 140308 1.jpg, The keep of the Château de Vincennes
The Château de Vincennes () is a former fortress and royal residence next to the town of Vincennes, on the eastern edge of Paris, alongside the Bois de Vincennes. It was largely built between 1361 and 1369, and was a preferred residence, after ...
(restored in the 1860s)
File:Description du chateau de pierrefonds Figure 00.png, Drawing by VLD of the Château de Pierrefonds
The Château de Pierrefonds () is a castle situated in the commune of Pierrefonds in the Oise department in the Hauts-de-France region, Northern France.
It is located on the southeast edge of the forest of Compiègne, northeast of Paris, betw ...
before restoration
File:Замки, с. 6–7.jpg, Plans of Pierrefonds by Viollet-le-Duc
File:Château de Pierrefonds exterior Oise.jpg, The Château de Pierrefonds
The Château de Pierrefonds () is a castle situated in the commune of Pierrefonds in the Oise department in the Hauts-de-France region, Northern France.
It is located on the southeast edge of the forest of Compiègne, northeast of Paris, betw ...
today
File:0 Chapiteau polychrome du château de Pierrefonds (1).JPG, Polychrome decoration at Pierrefonds by Viollet-le-Duc
The French coup d'état of 1851
French may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France
** French people, a nation and ethnic group
** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices
Arts and media
* The French (band), ...
brought Napoleon III
Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...
to power and transformed France from a republic to an empire. The coup accelerated some of Viollet-le-Duc's projects as his patron Prosper Mérimée had introduced him to the new Emperor. He moved forward with the slow work of restoration of the Cathedral of Reims
Notre-Dame de Reims (; ; meaning "Our Lady of Reims"), known in English as Reims Cathedral, is a Catholic Church, Catholic cathedral in the Reims, French city of the same name, the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Reims, Archdiocese of R ...
and Cathedral of Amiens. In Amiens, he cleared the interior of the French classical decoration added under Louis XIV, and proposed to make it resolutely Gothic. He gave the Emperor a tour of his project in September 1853; the Empress immediately offered to pay two-thirds of the cost of the restoration. In the same year he undertook the restoration of the Château de Vincennes
The Château de Vincennes () is a former fortress and royal residence next to the town of Vincennes, on the eastern edge of Paris, alongside the Bois de Vincennes. It was largely built between 1361 and 1369, and was a preferred residence, after ...
, long occupied by the military, along with its chapel, similar to Sainte-Chapelle
The Sainte-Chapelle (; ) 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.
Construction b ...
. A devotee of the pure Gothic, he described the chapel as "one of the finest specimens of Gothic in decline".
In November 1853, he provided the costs and plans for the medieval ramparts of Carcassonne
Carcassonne is a French defensive wall, fortified city in the Departments of France, department of Aude, Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania. It is the prefectures in France, prefecture of the department.
...
which he had first begun planning in 1849. The first fortifications had been built by the Visigoths
The Visigoths (; ) were a Germanic people united under the rule of a king and living within the Roman Empire during late antiquity. The Visigoths first appeared in the Balkans, as a Roman-allied Barbarian kingdoms, barbarian military group unite ...
; on top of these, in the Middle Ages Louis XI and then Philip the Bold
Philip II the Bold (; ; 17 January 1342 – 27 April 1404) was Duke of Burgundy and ''jure uxoris'' Count of Flanders, Artois and Burgundy. He was the fourth and youngest son of King John II of France and Bonne of Luxembourg.
Philip was th ...
had built a formidable series of towers, galleries, walls, gates and interlocking defences that resisted all sieges until 1355. The fortifications were largely intact, since the surroundings of the city were still a military defensive zone in the 19th century, but the towers were without tops and a large number of structures had been built up against the old walls. Once he obtained funding and made his plans, he began demolishing all structures which had been added to the ramparts over the centuries, and restored the gates, walls and towers to their original form, including the defence platforms, roofs on the towers and shelters for archers that would have been used during a siege. He found many of the original mountings for weapons still in place. To accompany his work, he published a detailed history of the city and its fortifications, with his drawings. Carcassonne became the best example of medieval military architecture in France, and also an important tourist attraction.
Napoleon III provided additional funding for the continued restoration of Notre-Dame. Viollet-le-Duc was also to replace the great bestiary of mythical beasts and animals which had decorated the cathedral in the 18th century. In 1856, using examples from other medieval churches and debris from Notre-Dame as his model, his workshop produced dragons, chimeras, grotesques, and gargoyles, as well as an assortment of picturesque pinnacles and fleurons. He engaged in a new project for restoration of the Cathedral of Clermont-Ferrand, a project which continued for ten years. He also undertook an unusual project for Napoleon III; the design and construction of six railway coaches with neo-Gothic interior décor for the Emperor and his entourage. Two of the cars still exist; the salon of honour car, with a fresco on the ceiling, is at the Château de Compiègne
The Château de Compiègne is a French château, a former royal residence built for Louis XV and later restored by Napoleon. Compiègne was one of three seats of royal government, the others being Versailles and Fontainebleau. It is located i ...
, and the dining car, with a massive golden eagle as the centrepiece of the décor, is at the Railroad Museum of Mulhouse
Mulhouse (; ; Alsatian language, Alsatian: ''Mìlhüsa'' ; , meaning "Mill (grinding), mill house") is a France, French city of the European Collectivity of Alsace (Haut-Rhin department, in the Grand Est region of France). It is near the Fran ...
.
Napoleon III asked Viollet-le-Duc if he could restore a medieval chateau for the Emperor's own use near Compiègne, where the Emperor traditionally passed September and October. Viollet-le-Duc first studied a restoration of the Château de Coucy, which had the highest medieval tower in France. When this proved too complicated, he settled upon Château de Pierrefonds
The Château de Pierrefonds () is a castle situated in the commune of Pierrefonds in the Oise department in the Hauts-de-France region, Northern France.
It is located on the southeast edge of the forest of Compiègne, northeast of Paris, betw ...
, a castle begun by Louis of Orleans in 1396, then dismantled in 1617 after several sieges by Louis XIII of France
Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown.
...
. Napoleon bought the ruin for 5000 francs in 1812, and Mérimée declared it an historic monument in 1848. In 1857 Viollet-le-Duc began designing an entirely new chateau on the ruins. This structure was not designed to recreate anything exactly that had existed, but a castle which recaptured the spirit of the Gothic, with lavish neo-Gothic decoration and 19th-century comforts. Pierrefonds and its inside decorations would not only influence William Burges and his Cardiff and Coch castles but also the castles of Ludwig II of Bavaria
Ludwig II (Ludwig Otto Friedrich Wilhelm; 25 August 1845 – 13 June 1886), also called the Swan King or the Fairy Tale King (), was King of Bavaria from 1864 until his death in 1886. He also held the titles of Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke ...
(Neuschwanstein Castle
Neuschwanstein Castle (, ; ) is a 19th-century Historicism (art), historicist palace on a rugged hill of the foothills of the Alps in the very south of Germany, near the border with Austria. It is located in the Swabia (Bavaria), Swabia regio ...
) and the Haut-Kœnigsbourg of the Emperor Wilhelm II.
While most of his attention was devoted to restorations, Viollet-le-Duc designed and built a number of private residences and new buildings in Paris. He also participated in the most important competition of the period, for the new Paris Opera
The Paris Opera ( ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be kn ...
. There were one hundred seventy-one projects proposed in the original competition, presented the 1855 Paris Universal Exposition. A jury of noted architects narrowed it down to five, including projects from Viollet-le-Duc and Charles Garnier, age thirty-five. Viollet-le-Duc was finally eliminated and this put an end to Viollet le Duc's wish to construct public buildings. Napoleon III also called upon Viollet-le-Duc for a wide variety of archeological and architectural tasks. When he wished to put up a monument to mark the Battle of Alesia
The Battle of Alesia or siege of Alesia (September 52 BC) was the climactic military engagement of the Gallic Wars, fought around the Gauls, Gallic ''oppidum'' (fortified settlement) of Alesia (city), Alesia in modern France, a major centre ...
, where Julius Caesar defeated the Gauls, a siege whose actual site was disputed by historians, he asked Viollet-le-Duc to locate the exact battlefield. Viollet-le-Duc conducted excavations at various purported sites, and finally found vestiges of the walls built at the time. He also designed the metal frame for the six-metre-high statue of the Gallic chief Vercingétorix that would be placed on the site. He later designed a similar frame for a much larger statue, the Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; ) is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, within New York City. The copper-clad statue, a gift to the United States from the people of French Thir ...
, but died before that statue was finished.
End of the Empire and of Restoration
In 1863, Viollet-le-Duc was named a professor at the École des Beaux-Arts, the school where he had refused to become a student. In the fortress of neoclassical Beaux-Arts architecture
Beaux-Arts architecture ( , ) was the academic architectural style taught at the in Paris, particularly from the 1830s to the end of the 19th century. It drew upon the principles of French neoclassicism, but also incorporated Renaissance and ...
there was much resistance against him, but he attracted two hundred students to his course, who applauded his lecture at the end. But while he had many supporters, the faculty professors and certain students campaigned against him. His critics complained that, aside from having little formal architectural training himself, he had only built a handful of new buildings. He tired of the confrontations and resigned on 16 May 1863, and continued his writing and teaching outside the Beaux-Arts. In response to the Beaux-Arts he initiated the creation of the École Spéciale d'Architecture
The École spéciale d'architecture (ÉSA; formerly École centrale d'architecture) is a private school for architecture at 254, boulevard Raspail in Paris, France. The diploma from the École spéciale d'architecture (DESA), recognized by the St ...
in Paris in 1865.
In the beginning of 1864, he celebrated the conclusion of his most important project, the restoration of Notre-Dame. In January of the same year he completed the first phase of the restoration of the Cathedral of Saint Sernin in Toulouse, one of the landmarks of French Romanesque architecture. Napoleon III invited Viollet-le-Duc to study possible restorations overseas, including in Algeria, Corsica, and in Mexico, where Napoleon had installed a new Emperor, Maximilian, under French sponsorship. He also saw the consecration of the third church that he had designed, the neo-Gothic church of Saint-Denis de l'Estree, in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis. Between 1866 and 1870, his major project was the ongoing transformation of Pierrefonds from a ruin into a royal residence. His plans for the metal framework he had designed for Pierrefonds were displayed at the Paris Universal Exposition of 1867. He also began a new area of study, researching the geology and geography of the region around Mont Blanc
Mont Blanc (, ) is a mountain in the Alps, rising above sea level, located right at the Franco-Italian border. It is the highest mountain in Europe outside the Caucasus Mountains, the second-most prominent mountain in Europe (after Mount E ...
in the Alps. While on his mapping excursion in the Alps in July 1870, he learned that war had been declared between Prussia and France.
As the Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...
commenced, Viollet-le-Duc hurried back to Paris, and offered his services as a military engineer; he was put into service as a colonel of engineers, preparing the defenses of Paris. In September, the Emperor was captured at the Battle of Sedan
The Battle of Sedan was fought during the Franco-Prussian War from 1 to 2 September 1870. Resulting in the capture of Napoleon III, Emperor Napoleon III and over a hundred thousand troops, it effectively decided the war in favour of Prussia and ...
, a new Republican government took power, and the Empress Eugénie fled into exile, as Germans marched as far as Paris and put it under siege. At the same time, on September 23, Viollet-le-Duc's primary patron and supporter, Prosper Mérimée, died peacefully in the south of France. Viollet-le-Duc supervised the construction of new defensive works outside Paris. The war was a disaster as he wrote in his journal on the 14th December 1870: "Disorganization is everywhere. The officers have no confidence in the troops, and the troops have no confidence in the officers. Each day, new orders and new projects which contravene those of the day before." He fought with the French army against the Germans at Buzenval on 24 January 1871. The battle was lost, and the French capitulated on 28 January. Viollet-le-Duc wrote to his wife on February 28, "I don't know what will become of me, but I do not want to return any more to administration. I am disgusted by it forever, and want nothing more than to pass the years that remain to me in study and in the most modest possible life." Always the scholar, he wrote a detailed study of the effectiveness and deficiencies of the fortifications of Paris during the siege, which was to be used for the 1917 defense of Verdun and the construction of the Maginot line
The Maginot Line (; ), named after the Minister of War (France), French Minister of War André Maginot, is a line of concrete fortifications, obstacles and weapon installations built by French Third Republic, France in the 1930s to deter invas ...
in 1938.
In May 1871 he left his home in Paris just before national guardsmen arrived to draft him into the armed force of the Paris Commune
The Paris Commune (, ) was a French revolutionary government that seized power in Paris on 18 March 1871 and controlled parts of the city until 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard (France), Nation ...
who subsequently condemned him to death. He escaped to Pierrefonds, where he had a small apartment before going in exile in Lausanne
Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...
, where he engage in his passion for mountains, making detailed maps and a series of thirty-two drawings of the alpine scenery. While in Lausanne he was also asked to undertake the restoration of the cathedral.
He returned later to Paris after the Commune had been suppressed and saw the ruins of most of the public buildings of the city, burned by the Commune in its last days. He received his only commission from the new government of the French Third Republic
The French Third Republic (, sometimes written as ) was the system of government adopted in France from 4 September 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War, until 10 July 1940, after the Fall of France durin ...
; Jules Simon, the new Minister of Culture and Public Instruction, asked him to design a plaque to be placed before Notre-Dame to honor the hostages killed by the Paris Commune in its final days.
The new government of the French Third Republic made little use of his expertise in the restoration of the major government buildings which had been burned by the Paris Commune
The Paris Commune (, ) was a French revolutionary government that seized power in Paris on 18 March 1871 and controlled parts of the city until 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard (France), Nation ...
, including the Tuileries Palace
The Tuileries Palace (, ) was a palace in Paris which stood on the right bank of the Seine, directly in the west-front of the Louvre Palace. It was the Parisian residence of most French monarchs, from Henri IV to Napoleon III, until it was b ...
, the Palace of the Legion of Honor, the Palais-Royal
The Palais-Royal () is a former French royal palace located on Rue Saint-Honoré in the 1st arrondissement of Paris. The screened entrance court faces the Place du Palais-Royal, opposite the Louvre Palace, Louvre. Originally called the Palais-Ca ...
, the library of the Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...
, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Finance. The only reconstruction on which he was consulted was that of the Hotel de Ville. The writer Edmond de Goncourt called for leaving the ruin of the Hotel de Ville exactly as it was, "a ruin of a magical palace, A marvel of the picturesque. The country should not condemn it without appeal to restoration by Viollet-le-Duc." The government asked Viollet-le-Duc to organize a competition. He presented two options; to either restore the building to its original state, with its historic interior; or to demolish it and build a new city hall. In July 1872 the government decided to preserve the Renaissance facade, but otherwise to completely demolish and rebuild the building.
Author and theorist
Throughout his life Viollet le Duc wrote over 100 publications on architecture, decoration, history, archeology etc.... some of which would become international best-sellers: ''Dictionary of French Architecture from 11th to 16th Century'' (1854–1868), ''Entretiens sur l'architecture'' (1863–1872), ''L'histoire d'une Maison'' (1873) and ''Histoire d'un Dessinateur: Comment on Apprend à Dessiner'' (1879).
In his ''Entretiens sur l'architecture'' he concentrated in particular on the use of iron and other new materials, and the importance of designing buildings whose architecture was adapted to their function, rather than to a particular style. The book was translated into English in 1881 and won a large following in the United States. The Chicago architect Louis Sullivan
Louis Henry Sullivan (September 3, 1856 – April 14, 1924) was an American architect, and has been called a "father of skyscrapers" and "father of modernism". He was an influential architect of the Chicago school (architecture), Chicago ...
, one of the inventors of the skyscraper, often invoked the phrase, "Form follows function."
Lausanne Cathedral
The Cathedral of Notre Dame of Lausanne is a Church architecture, church located in the city of Lausanne, in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It is owned by the Evangelical Reformed Church of the Canton of Vaud.
History
Construction of the ...
was his final major restoration project; it was rebuilt following his plans between 1873 and 1876. Work continued after his death. His reconstruction of the bell tower was later criticized; he eliminated the original octagonal base and added a new spire, which rested on the walls, and not on the vaulting, like the original spire. He also added new decoration, crowning the spire at mid-height with gables, another original element, and removing the original tiles. He was also criticized for the materials and ornaments he added to the towers, including gargoyles. His structural design was preserved, but in 1925 his gargoyles and original ornamentation were removed, and the spire was recovered with tiles.
His reputation had reached outside of France. The spire and roof of Strasbourg Cathedral
Strasbourg Cathedral or the Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg (, or ''Cathédrale de Strasbourg'', ), also known as Strasbourg Minster (church), Minster (), is a Catholic cathedral in Strasbourg, Alsace, France. Although considerable parts of ...
had been damaged by German artillery during the Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...
, and the city was now part of Germany. The German government invited Viollet-le-Duc to comment on their plans for the restoration, which involved a more grandiose Romanesque tower. Viollet-le-Duc informed the German architect that the planned new tower was completely out of character with the original facade and style of the cathedral. His advice was accepted, and the church was restored to its original form.
In 1872 Viollet-le-Duc was engaged in the reconstruction of the Château d'Amboise
The Château d'Amboise is a château in Amboise, located in the Indre-et-Loire ''Departments of France, département'' of the Loire Valley in France. Confiscated by the monarchy in the 15th century, it became a favoured royal residence and was ex ...
, owned by the descendants of the former King, Louis-Philippe. The chateau had been confiscated by Napoleon III in 1848 but was returned to the family in 1872. It was a massive project to turn it into a residence, involving at times three hundred workers. Viollet-le-Duc designed all the work to the finest details, including the floor tiles, the gas lights in the salons, the ovens in the kitchen, and the electric bells for summoning servants.
In 1874 Viollet-le-Duc resigned as diocesan architect of Paris and was succeeded by his contemporary, Paul Abadie. In his final years, he continued to supervise the restoration projects that were underway for the Commission of Historical Monuments. He engaged in polemics about architecture in the press, and was elected to the Paris municipal council.
Statue of Liberty
While planning the design and construction of the Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; ) is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, within New York City. The copper-clad statue, a gift to the United States from the people of French Thir ...
(''Liberty Enlightening the World'') sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi
Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi ( , ; 2 August 1834 – 4 October 1904) was a French sculptor and painter. He is best known for designing ''Liberty Enlightening the World'', commonly known as the Statue of Liberty.
Early life and education
Barthol ...
interested Viollet-le-Duc, his friend and mentor, in the project.[Interviewed for Watson, Corin. ''Statue of Liberty: Building a Colossus'' (TV documentary, 2001)] As chief engineer, Viollet-le-Duc designed a brick pier
A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of water and usually juts out from its shore, typically supported by piling, piles or column, pillars, and provides above-water access to offshore areas. Frequent pier uses include fishing, b ...
within the statue, to which the skin would be anchored. After consultations with the metalwork foundry Gaget, Gauthier & Co., Viollet-le-Duc chose the metal which would be used for the skin, copper sheets, and the method used to shape it, repoussé, in which the sheets were heated and then struck with wooden hammers. An advantage of this choice was that the entire statue would be light for its volume, as the copper need be only thick.
National Museum of French Monuments and final years
He became engaged in the planning and construction of the Paris Universal Exposition of 1878. He proposed to the Minister of Education, Jules Ferry
Jules François Camille Ferry (; 5 April 183217 March 1893) was a French statesman and republican philosopher. He was one of the leaders of the Opportunist Republicans, Moderate Republicans and served as Prime Minister of France from 1880 to 18 ...
, that the Trocadéro Palace, the main building of the Exposition on the hilltop of Chaillot, be transformed after the Exposition into a museum of French monuments, displaying models of architecture and sculpture from landmarks around France. This idea was accepted. The National Museum of French Monuments opened in 1882, after his death. The Palais was reconstructed into the Palais de Chaillot
The Palais de Chaillot () is a building at the top of the in the Trocadéro area in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, France.
Design
The building was designed in classicising " moderne" style by architects Louis-Hippolyte Boileau, Jacques ...
in 1937, but the Museum of French Monuments was preserved and can be seen there today.
In his final years his son Eugène-Louis became the head of the Commission of Historic Monuments. He took on just one new project, the restoration of the cloister of the Augustines at Toulouse. He completed his series of dictionaries of architectural periods, designed for a general audience. He also devoted more time to studying the geography of the Alps around Mont-Blanc. He spent his summers hiking in the mountains and writing articles about his travels. He launched a public campaign for the re-forestation of the Alps, and published a detailed map of the area in 1876. He spent more and more time at ''La Vedette'', the villa he constructed in Lausanne, a house on the model of a Savoyard chalet, but with a minimum of decoration, illustrating his new doctrine of form following function. He made one last visit to inspect Carcassonne, whose work was now under his son's direction. After an exhausting summer of hiking in the Alps in 1879, he became ill and died in Lausanne on 17 September 1879. He was buried in the cemetery of La Sallaz in Lausanne. In 1946 his grave and monument were transferred to the Cemetery of Bois-le-Vaux (Section XVIII) in Lausanne.
Family
Viollet-le-Duc married Elisabeth Tempier in Paris on 3 May 1834. The couple had two children, but separated a few years after marriage, and spent little time together; he was continually on the road. The writer Geneviève Viollet-le-Duc (winner of the prix Broquette-Gonin in 1978) was his great-granddaughter.
Doctrine
Viollet-le-Duc famously defined restoration in volume eight of his ''Dictionnaire raisonné de l'architecture française du XI au XVI siecle'' of 1858: "To restore a building is not to maintain it, repair it or remake it: it is to re-establish it in a complete state which may never have existed at any given moment." He then explained that it had to meet four conditions: (1) The "re-establishment" had to be scientifically documented with plans and photographs and archeological records, which would guarantee exactness. (2) The restoration had to involve not just the appearance of the monument, or the effect that it produced, but also its structure; it had to use the most efficient means to assure the long life of the building, including using more solid materials, used more wisely. (3) the restoration had to exclude any modification contrary to obvious evidence; but the structure could be adapted to conform to more modern or rational uses and practices, which meant alterations to the original plan; and (4) The restoration should preserve older modifications made to the building, with the exception of those which compromised its stability or its conservation, or those which gravely violated the value of its historical presence.
He drew conclusions from medieval architecture that he applied to modern architecture. He noted that it was sometimes necessary to employ an iron frame in restoration to avoid the danger of fires, as long as the new structure was not heavier than the original, and kept the original balance of forces found in medieval structures. "The monuments of the Middle Ages were carefully calculated, and their organism is delicate. There is nothing in excess in their works, nothing useless. If you change one of the conditions of these organisms, you change all the others. Many people consider this a fault; for us, this is a quality which we too often neglect in our modern construction....Why should we build expensive walls two meters thick, if walls fifty centimeters thick ith reinforced supports offer sufficient stability? In the structure of the Middle Ages, every portion of a work fulfilled a function and possessed an action."
Gothic vs. Beaux-Arts
During the entire career of Viollet-le-Duc, he was engaged in a dispute with the doctrines of the École des Beaux-Arts
; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centu ...
, the leading architectural school of France, which he refused to attend as a student, and where he taught briefly as a professor, before being pressured to depart. In 1846 he engaged in a fervent exchange in print with Quatremère de Quincy
Antoine-Chrysostome Quatremère de Quincy (21 October 1755 – 28 December 1849) was a French armchair archaeologist and architectural theorist, a Freemason, and an effective arts administrator and influential writer on art.
Life
Born in Paris, ...
, the Perpetual Secretary of the French Academy, on the question, "Is it suitable, in the 19th century, to build churches in the Gothic style?" De Quincy and his followers denounced the Gothic style as incoherent, disorderly, unintelligent, decadent and without taste. Viollet-le-Duc responded, "What we want, ''messieurs'', is the return of an art which was born in our country....Leave to Rome what belongs to Rome, and to Athens what belongs to Athens. Rome didn't want our Gothic (and was perhaps the only one in Europe to reject it) and they were right, because when one has the good fortune to possess a national architecture, the best thing is to keep it."
"If you study for a moment a church of the 13th century", he wrote, "you see that all of the construction is carried out according to an invariable system. All the forces and the weights are thrust out to the exterior, a disposition which gives the interior the greatest open space possible. The flying buttresses and contreforts alone support the entire structure, and always have an aspect of resistance, of force and stability which reassures the eye and the spirit; The vaults, built with materials that are easy to mount and to place at a great height, are combined in an easy disposition that places the totality of their weight on the piles; that the most simple means are always employed...and that all the parts of these constructions, independent of each other, even as they rely on each other, present an elasticity and a lightness needed in a building of such great dimensions. We can still see (and this is only found in Gothic architecture) that human proportions are the one fixed rule."
Controversy
Viollet-le-Duc was often accused by certain critics, in his own time and later, of pursuing the spirit of the Gothic style in some of his restorations instead of strict historical accuracy. Many art historians also consider that the British architectural writer John Ruskin
John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English polymath a writer, lecturer, art historian, art critic, draughtsman and philanthropist of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as art, architecture, Critique of politic ...
and William Morris were ferocious opponents of Viollet le Duc's restorations. But Ruskin never criticised Viollet le Duc's restoration work in itself, but criticised the principle of restoration itself. Indeed, at the beginning of his career Ruskin had a very radical opinion on restoration: "a building should be looked after and if not it should be left to die". Viollet le Duc's position on the subject was more nuanced: "if a building has not been upkept it should be restored".
The existence of an opposition between Ruskin and Viollet le Duc on restoration is today questioned by new research based on Ruskin's own writings: "there is no book on architecture which has everything correct apart from Viollet le Duc's Dictionary". And at the end of his life Ruskin expressed the regret that "no one in England had done the work that Viollet le Duc had done in France".
Viollet-le-Duc's restorations sometimes involved non-historical additions, either to assure the stability of the building, or sometimes simply to maintain the harmony of the design. The flèche or spire of Notre-Dame de Paris, which had been constructed in about 1250, was removed in 1786 after it was damaged by the wind. Viollet-le-Duc designed and constructed a new spire, ornamented with statuary, which was taller than the original and modified to resist the weather, but in harmony with the rest of the design. In the 19th and 20th century, his flèche was a target for critics.
He was also criticized later for his modifications of the choir of Notre-Dame, which had been rebuilt in the Louis XIV style
The Louis XIV style or ''Louis Quatorze'' ( , ), also called French classicism, was the style of architecture and decorative arts intended to glorify King Louis XIV and his reign. It featured majesty, harmony and regularity. It became the official ...
during the reign of that king. Viollet-le-Duc took out the old choir, including the altar where Napoleon Bonaparte had been crowned Emperor and replaced them with a Gothic altar and decoration which he designed. When he modified the choir, he also constructed new bays with small Gothic rose windows modelled on those in the church of Chars, in the Oise Valley. Some historians condemned these restorations as non-historical invention. His defenders pointed out that Viollet-le-Duc did not make any decisions on the restoration of Notre-Dame by himself; all of his plans were approved by Prosper Mérimée, the Inspector of Historical Monuments, and by the Commission of historic monuments.
He was criticized for the abundance of Gothic gargoyles, chimeras, fleurons, and pinnacles which he added to Notre-Dame Cathedral. These decorations had existed in the Middle Ages but had largely been removed during the reign of Louis XIV. The last original gargoyles had been taken down in 1813. He modelled the new gargoyles and monsters on examples from other cathedrals of the period.
He was later criticized also for the stained glass windows he designed and had made for the chapels around the ground level of the cathedral, which feature intricate Gothic designs in grisaille
Grisaille ( or ; , from ''gris'' 'grey') means in general any European painting that is painted in grey.
History
Giotto used grisaille in the lower registers of his frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua () and Robert Campin, Jan van Ey ...
, which allow more light into the church. The contemporary view of the controversy of his restoration is summarized on a descriptive panel near the altar of the cathedral: "The great restoration, carried to fruition by Viollet-le-Duc following the death of Lassus, supplied new radiance to the cathedral – whatever reservations one might have about the choices that were made. The work of the nineteenth century is now as much a part of the architectural history of Notre-Dame as that undertaken in previous centuries."
The restoration of ramparts of Carcassonne
Carcassonne is a French defensive wall, fortified city in the Departments of France, department of Aude, Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania. It is the prefectures in France, prefecture of the department.
...
was also criticized in the 20th century. His critics pointed out that the pointed caps of the towers he constructed were more typical of northern France, not the region where Carcassonne was located, near the Spanish border. Similarly he added roofs of northern slate tiles rather than southern clay tiles, a choice that has been reversed in more recent restorations. His critics also claimed that Viollet-le-Duc sought a "condition of completeness" which never actually existed at any given time.
The principal counter-argument made by Viollet-le-Duc's defenders was that, without his prompt restorations, many of the buildings that he restored would have been lost, and that he did the best that he could with the knowledge that was then available.
Mortimer Wheeler's entry on English archaeologist Charles R Peers for the Dictionary of National Biography (1971) is worth quoting for its critique of Viollet-le-Duc:
“he eerslaid down the principles which have governed architectural conservation in the United Kingdom and have served as a model in other parts of the world. His cardinal principle was to retain but not to restore the surviving remains of an ancient structure; and in this respect he departed emphatically from the tradition of Viollet-le-Duc and his successors in France and Italy, where exuberant restoration frequently obscured the evidence upon which it was based ...”
Existing buildings designed and constructed by Viollet-le-Duc
Paris residence of Viollet-le-Duc.jpg, Residence and studio of Viollet-le-Duc at 68 rue Condorcet, Paris (1862)
Maison Courmont 2012-09-02 14-48-15.jpg, Maison Courmont, 28 rue de Liège, Paris
15 rue de Douai, Paris.jpeg, 15 rue de Douai, Paris
Paris 9 - Immeuble 23 rue Chauchat 42 rue La Fayette -931.JPG, 23 rue Chauchat, Paris
Eglise Ecossaise.JPG, Scots Kirk, Avenue de Rumine 26, Lausanne
Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...
, Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
(1879)
Partial list of restorations
;Churches
* Basilica of St. Mary Magdalene in Vézelay
Vézelay () is a Communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, department of Yonne in the north-central French region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. It is a defensible hill town famous for Vézelay Abbey. The town and its 11th-century Ro ...
* St. Martin in Clamecy
* Notre-Dame in Paris
* Sainte-Chapelle
The Sainte-Chapelle (; ) 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.
Construction b ...
in Paris (under Félix Duban)
* Basilica of St. Denis near Paris
* St. Louis in Poissy
Poissy () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. Inhabitan ...
* Notre-Dame in Semur-en-Auxois
Semur-en-Auxois () is a Communes of France, commune of the Côte-d'Or Departments of France, department in eastern France. The politician François Patriat, the engineers Edmé Régnier L'Aîné (1751–1825) and Émile Dorand (1866-1922), and th ...
* Basilica of St. Nazarius and St. Celsus in Carcassonne
Carcassonne is a French defensive wall, fortified city in the Departments of France, department of Aude, Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania. It is the prefectures in France, prefecture of the department.
...
* Basilica of St. Sernin, Toulouse
* Notre-Dame in Lausanne
Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...
, Switzerland
;Town halls
* Ancien Hôtel de Ville de Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val
* Hôtel de Ville de Narbonne
;Castles
* Château de Roquetaillade, in Bordeaux
* Château de Pierrefonds
The Château de Pierrefonds () is a castle situated in the commune of Pierrefonds in the Oise department in the Hauts-de-France region, Northern France.
It is located on the southeast edge of the forest of Compiègne, northeast of Paris, betw ...
* Fortified city of Carcassonne
Carcassonne is a French defensive wall, fortified city in the Departments of France, department of Aude, Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania. It is the prefectures in France, prefecture of the department.
...
* Château de Coucy
* Antoing in Belgium
* Château de Vincennes
The Château de Vincennes () is a former fortress and royal residence next to the town of Vincennes, on the eastern edge of Paris, alongside the Bois de Vincennes. It was largely built between 1361 and 1369, and was a preferred residence, after ...
, Paris
* Château d'Amboise
The Château d'Amboise is a château in Amboise, located in the Indre-et-Loire ''Departments of France, département'' of the Loire Valley in France. Confiscated by the monarchy in the 15th century, it became a favoured royal residence and was ex ...
, Amboise
Partial list of architectural design
* Château du Tertre, Ambrières-les-Vallées (Mayenne)
* Château d'Abbadia (Hendaye)
* Château de la Flachère, Saint-Vérand (Rhône)
* Saint-Gimer Church, Carcassonne, Carcassonne (Aude)
* Scots Kirk, Lausanne, Suisse
* Saint-Martin Church, Aillant-sur-Tholon (Yonne)
* Château de Montdardier, Montdardier (Gard)
* Château Jacquesson, Châlons-en-Champagne (Marne)
* Église Saint-Denis-de-l'Estrée, Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis)
* Duc de Morny's Funeral chapel, cemetery du Père-Lachaise, Paris
* Barons d'Arbelles' Funeral chapel, cemetery des Carmes, Clermont-Ferrand (Puy-de-Dôme)
* Indoor mainrooms, Château de Pregny, Pregny (Suisse)
Partial list of buildings
* Building, 28 rue de Liège, Paris (1846)
* Building, 80 boulevard du Montparnasse, Paris (1859)
* Building, 15 rue de Douai, Paris (1860)
* His own property, building, 68 rue Condorcet, Paris (1862)
* Building, 23 rue Chauchat - 42 rue Lafayette, Paris (1864)
Restorations by Viollet-le-Duc
File:Notre Dame dalla Senna.jpg, Notre-Dame de Paris
Notre-Dame de Paris ( ; meaning "Cathedral of Our Lady of Paris"), often referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a Medieval architecture, medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the River Seine), in the 4th arrondissemen ...
(restored 1845–1870)
File:Chateau-de-Vincennes-donjon.jpg, The keep of the Château de Vincennes
The Château de Vincennes () is a former fortress and royal residence next to the town of Vincennes, on the eastern edge of Paris, alongside the Bois de Vincennes. It was largely built between 1361 and 1369, and was a preferred residence, after ...
(restored in the 1860s)
File:Carcasonneouterwall.jpg, The walled town of Carcassonne
Carcassonne is a French defensive wall, fortified city in the Departments of France, department of Aude, Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania. It is the prefectures in France, prefecture of the department.
...
(restored 1853–1879)
File:St Sernin Toulouse.JPG, Basilica of Saint-Sernin, Toulouse
The Basilica of Saint-Sernin ( Occitan: ''Basilica de Sant Sarnin'') is a church in Toulouse, France, the former abbey church of the Abbey of Saint-Sernin or St Saturnin. Apart from the church, none of the abbey buildings remain. The current chu ...
(restored in the 1860s to the 1880s)
File:Château de Pierrefonds vu depuis le Parc.jpg, Château de Pierrefonds
The Château de Pierrefonds () is a castle situated in the commune of Pierrefonds in the Oise department in the Hauts-de-France region, Northern France.
It is located on the southeast edge of the forest of Compiègne, northeast of Paris, betw ...
(carried out 1857–1885)
File:Lausanne-cathe7.JPG, Lausanne Cathedral
The Cathedral of Notre Dame of Lausanne is a Church architecture, church located in the city of Lausanne, in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It is owned by the Evangelical Reformed Church of the Canton of Vaud.
History
Construction of the ...
, Switzerland (restored 1874–1910)
Publications
Throughout his career Viollet-le-Duc made notes and drawings, not only for the buildings he was working on but also on Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
buildings that were to be soon demolished. His notes were useful when preparing his published works. His study of medieval and Renaissance periods was not limited to architecture but extended also to such areas as furniture, clothing, musical instruments, armament, and geology.
His work was published, first in serial form, and then as full-scale books, as:
* ''Dictionary of French Architecture from 11th to 16th Century'' (1854–1868) ('' Dictionnaire raisonné de l'architecture française du XIe au XVIe siècle'') – Original language edition, including numerous illustrations.
* ''Dictionary of French Furnishings'' (1858–1870) (''Dictionnaire raisonné du mobilier français de l'époque Carolingienne à la Renaissance.'')
* ''Cités et ruines américaines Mitla, Palenqué, Izamal, Chichen-Itza, Uxmal'' (1863)
* ''Entretiens sur l'architecture'' (in 2 volumes, 1863–1872), in which Viollet-le-Duc systematized his approach to architecture and architectural education, in a system radically opposed to that of the ''École des Beaux-Arts
; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centu ...
'', which he had avoided in his youth and despised. Henry Van Brunt's translation, ''Discourses on Architecture'', was published in 1875, making it available to an American audience little more than a decade after its initial publication in France.
* ''Histoire de l'habitation humaine, depuis les temps préhistoriques jusqu'à nos jours'' (1875). Published in English in 1876 as ''Habitations of Man in All Ages''. Viollet-Le-Duc traces the history of domestic architecture among the different "races" of mankind.
* ''L'art russe: ses origines, ses éléments constructifs, son apogée, son avenir'' (1877), where Viollet-le-Duc applied his ideas of rational construction to Russian architecture.
* ''Histoire d'un Dessinateur: Comment on Apprend à Dessiner'' (1879)
Architectural theory and new building projects
Viollet-le-Duc is considered by many to be the first theorist of modern architecture
Modern architecture, also called modernist architecture, or the modern movement, is an architectural movement and style that was prominent in the 20th century, between the earlier Art Deco and later postmodern movements. Modern architectur ...
. Sir John Summerson
Sir John Newenham Summerson (25 November 1904 – 10 November 1992) was one of the leading British architectural historians of the 20th century.
Early life
John Summerson was born at Barnstead, Coniscliffe Road, Darlington. His grandfather wo ...
wrote that "there have been two supremely eminent theorists in the history of European architecture – Leon Battista Alberti
Leon Battista Alberti (; 14 February 1404 – 25 April 1472) was an Italian Renaissance humanist author, artist, architect, poet, Catholic priest, priest, linguistics, linguist, philosopher, and cryptography, cryptographer; he epitomised the natu ...
and Eugène Viollet-le-Duc."
His architectural theory was largely based on finding the ideal forms for specific materials and using these forms to create buildings. His writings centered on the idea that materials should be used "honestly". He believed that the outward appearance of a building should reflect the rational construction of the building. In ''Entretiens sur l'architecture'', Viollet-le-Duc praised the Greek temple
Greek temples (, semantically distinct from Latin , " temple") were structures built to house deity statues within Greek sanctuaries in ancient Greek religion. The temple interiors did not serve as meeting places, since the sacrifices and ritu ...
for its rational representation of its construction. For him, "Greek architecture served as a model for the correspondence of structure and appearance."
Another component in Viollet-le-Duc's theory was how the design of a building should start from its program and the plan, and end with its decorations. If this resulted in an asymmetrical exterior, so be it. He dismissed the symmetry of classicist buildings as vain, caring too much about appearances at the expense of practicality and convenience for the inhabitants of the house.[Hearn, M. F. (ed.), ''The Architectural Theory of Viollet-le-Duc – Readings and Commentary,'' Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1990]
In several unbuilt projects for new buildings, Viollet-le-Duc applied the lessons he had derived from Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High Middle Ages, High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It evolved f ...
, applying its rational structural systems to modern building materials such as cast iron. For inspiration, he also examined organic structures, such as leaves and animal skeletons. He was especially interested in the wings of bats, an influence represented by his Assembly Hall project.
Viollet-le-Duc's drawings of iron trusswork were innovative for the time. Many of his designs emphasizing iron would later influence the Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...
movement, most noticeably in the work of Hector Guimard
Hector Guimard (, 10 March 1867 – 20 May 1942) was a French architect and designer, and a prominent figure of the Art Nouveau style. He achieved early fame with his design for the Castel Beranger, the first Art Nouveau apartment building i ...
, Victor Horta, Antoni Gaudí
Antoni Gaudí i Cornet ( , ; ; 25 June 1852 – 10 June 1926) was a Catalans, Catalan architect and designer from Spain, widely known as the greatest exponent of Catalan ''Modernisme''. Gaudí's works have a style, with most located in Barc ...
and Hendrik Petrus Berlage
Hendrik Petrus Berlage (; 21 February 185612 August 1934) was a Dutch architect and designer. He is considered one of the fathers of the architecture of the Amsterdam School.
Life and work
Hendrik Petrus Berlage, son of Nicolaas Willem Ber ...
. His writings inspired several American architects, including Frank Furness
Frank Heyling Furness (November 12, 1839 – June 27, 1912) was an American architect of the Victorian era. He designed more than 600 buildings, most in the Philadelphia area, and is remembered for his diverse, muscular, often inordinately scaled ...
, John Wellborn Root, Louis Sullivan
Louis Henry Sullivan (September 3, 1856 – April 14, 1924) was an American architect, and has been called a "father of skyscrapers" and "father of modernism". He was an influential architect of the Chicago school (architecture), Chicago ...
, and Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright Sr. (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed List of Frank Lloyd Wright works, more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key ...
.[
]
Military career and influence
Viollet-le-Duc had a second career in the military, primarily in the defense of Paris during the Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...
(1870–71). He was so influenced by the conflict that during his later years he described the idealized defense of France by the analogy of the military history of Le Roche-Pont, an imaginary castle, in his work ''Histoire d'une Forteresse'' (''Annals of a Fortress'', twice translated into English). Accessible and well researched, it is partly fictional.
''Annals of a Fortress'' strongly influenced French military defensive thinking. Viollet-le-Duc's critique of the effect of artillery
Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...
(applying his practical knowledge from the 1870–1871 war) is so complete that it accurately describes the principles applied to the defense of France until World War II. The physical results of his theories are present in the fortification of Verdun
Verdun ( , ; ; ; official name before 1970: Verdun-sur-Meuse) is a city in the Meuse (department), Meuse departments of France, department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department.
In 843, the Treaty of V ...
prior to World War I and the Maginot Line
The Maginot Line (; ), named after the Minister of War (France), French Minister of War André Maginot, is a line of concrete fortifications, obstacles and weapon installations built by French Third Republic, France in the 1930s to deter invas ...
prior to World War II. His theories are also represented by the French military theory of "Deliberate Advance", which stresses that artillery and a strong system of fortresses
A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...
in the rear of an army are essential.
Legacy
The English architect Benjamin Bucknall (1833–1895) was a devotee of Viollet-le-Duc and during 1874 to 1881 translated several of his publications into English to popularise his principles in Great Britain. The later works of the English designer and architect William Burges
William Burges (; 2 December 1827 – 20 April 1881) was an English architect and designer. Among the greatest of the Victorian era, Victorian art-architects, he sought in his work to escape from both nineteenth-century Industrial Revolution, ...
were greatly influenced by Viollet-le-Duc, most strongly in Burges's designs for his own home, The Tower House in London's Holland Park district, and Burges's designs for Castell Coch near Cardiff, Wales.
An exhibition, ''Eugène Viollet-le-Duc 1814–1879'' was presented in Paris in 1965, and there was a larger, centennial exhibition in 1980.
Viollet-le-Duc was the subject of a Google Doodle
Google Doodle is a special, temporary alteration of the logo on Google's homepages intended to commemorate holidays, events, achievements, and historical figures. The first Google Doodle honored the 1998 edition of the long-running annual Bu ...
on January 27, 2014.
See also
* Abbatial church of Notre-Dame de Mouzon
Notes
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
References
Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc
''Dictionary of Art Historians''
External links
''Military Architecture''
English translation of ''Essai sur l'architecture militaire au Moyen Âge'' (1854). 3rd English ed., James Parker & Co., Oxford & London (1907).
* , English translation: as of September 2021, only a grand total of ten terms have been translated (se
here
. French original (full content): se
here
or at the Internet Archive:
*''Dictionnaire raisonné de l’architecture française du XIe au XVIe siècle'' (1875 edition, in French) at the Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...
:
Vol. 1
Abaque – Aronde
Vol. 2
Arts – Chapiteau
Vol. 3
Charnier – Console
Vol. 4
Construction – Cyborium
Vol. 5
Dais – Fût
Vol. 6
Gable – Ouvrier
Vol. 7
Palais – Puits
Vol. 8
Quai – Synagogue
Vol. 9
Tabernacle – Zodiaque
Vol. 10
Table analytique
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Viollet-Le-Duc, Eugene
1814 births
1879 deaths
Architects from Paris
19th-century French architects
French architecture writers
French ecclesiastical architects
French military personnel of the Franco-Prussian War
Gothic Revival architects
Preservationist architects
Recipients of the Royal Gold Medal
Honorary members of the Royal Academy
Members of the American Philosophical Society