Jacques Félix Duban () (14 October 1798,
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
– 8 October 1870,
Bordeaux
Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...
) was a French architect, the contemporary of
Jacques Ignace Hittorff and
Henri Labrouste
Pierre-François-Henri Labrouste () (11 May 1801 – 24 June 1875) was a French architect from the famous school of architecture. After a six-year stay in Rome, Labrouste established an architectural training workshop, which soon became ...
.
Life and career
Duban won 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 1823, the most prestigious award 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 ...
. He was much influenced by his five-year stay in Italy, particularly his sense of color, influenced by the polychrome paintings of ancient Pompeii, newly uncovered Etruscan tombs, and the tradition of the great decorations painted in the Renaissance.
By far Duban's most visible work is the main building of the École, undertaken in 1830. The main building, the Palace of Studies, was designed with integral paintings and interior sculpture for artists' education. His redesign and alignment of the entire campus frames the main building from the entrance on Rue Bonaparte. With other expansions towards the Seine, this work was completed around 1861.
Duban was elected as member of the Academy of Fine Arts in 1854. Among his many students was
Charles-Auguste Questel; he was the brother-in-law of fellow architect
François Debret.
Work
* Restoration of the castles of
Château de Blois,
Château de Gaillon, and
Château de Dampierre
The Château de Dampierre () is a château in Dampierre-en-Yvelines, in the ''Vallée de Chevreuse'', France.
History
Built by Jules Hardouin-Mansart in 1675–1683 for the Charles Honoré d'Albert, duc de Luynes, de Chaulnes et de Chevreuse, d ...
* Completion and restoration of the
Apollo Gallery in 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 ...
, beginning in 1848. It reflects and reinforces its structure and repairs coverage that protects the valuable decorated barrel vault, built in 1661 on the orders of the young Louis XIV.
* Restoration of the
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 ...
, with
Jean-Baptiste Antoine Lassus and a young
Eugène Viollet-le-Duc
Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc (; 27 January 181417 September 1879) was a French architect and author, famous for his restoration of the most prominent medieval landmarks in France. His major restoration projects included Notre-Dame de Paris, ...
.
* Restoration of various historical monuments and private monuments
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duban
1798 births
1870 deaths
19th-century French architects
Prix de Rome for architecture
École des Beaux-Arts alumni
Members of the Académie des beaux-arts
Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)
Architects from Paris