French Literature Reviews - 2026
A. Gady, Jacques Lemercier. Architect and Engineer to the King
Art and Visual Culture
Alexandre Gady, Jacques Lemercier. Architect and Engineer to the King
(foreword by Marc Fumaroli, of the Académie Française)
Paris, Editions de la MSH, 499 p.
ISBN: 2-7351-1042-7
EAN: 9782735110421
96 €
An EMBLEMATIC FIGURE of 17th-century French architecture, alongside Salomon de Brosse, François Mansart, and Louis Le Vau, Jacques Lemercier (c. 1586–1654) had never before been the subject of a monograph, either in France or abroad. This work aims to fill this surprising historiographical gap and rescue this artist from more or less apocryphal dictionary entries.
Hailing from a prominent family of master masons in Pontoise, trained by his father and then in Rome between 1605 and 1610, Lemercier enjoyed a remarkable career upon his return to France, crowned in 1639 with the title of "First Architect to the King." His name is associated with the kingdom's greatest construction projects, thanks to the patronage of Marie de' Medici, Louis XIII, and later Anne of Austria, but above all of Cardinal Richelieu, his principal "patron."
An architect, "town planner," garden designer, and decorator, Lemercier was considered by Sauval to be "the leading architect of his century." Best known today for the Sorbonne Chapel and the Pavillon de l'Horloge at the Louvre, Lemercier left behind a monumental and highly diverse body of work, to which this book aims to do justice, rediscovering a place we think we know so well in the heart of Paris.
This comprehensive study explores the multifaceted career of Jacques Lemercier, placing him firmly in the context of seventeenth-century French classical architecture alongside contemporaries like François Mansart and Louis Le Vau. Trained in Rome during the first decade of the century, Lemercier synthesized Italian design principles with French traditions. The book traces his rise through royal patronage under Marie de Medici, Louis XIII, and Cardinal Richelieu, examining his contributions as an engineer, urban planner, and decorator who shaped the monumental landscape of early modern France and Paris.
The volume provides essential reading for architectural historians, researchers of the Grand Siècle, and students of urban development in early modern Europe. It addresses key questions regarding royal patronage, the organization of seventeenth-century building sites, and the legacy of master builders who served the French crown. By examining landmark structures such as the Sorbonne Chapel and the Louvre's Pavillon de l'Horloge, the work offers valuable insights into the evolution of French state architecture and the institutional role of the royal architect.