Jacques Lemercier

Jacques Lemercier, portrait by Philippe de Champaigne . In the background, the university chapel of the Sorbonne in Paris designed by Lemercier

Jacques Lemercier (also: Le Mercier ) (* 1585 in Pontoise , † 1654 in Paris ) was a French architect , engineer , urbanist and garden designer .

He belonged to a widespread dynasty of building contractors and architects, grandson of Pierre I. Lemercier , son of the successful master mason and building contractor Nicolas Lemercier (* 1541, † 1637) and brother of Pierre II. Lemercier .

Jacques Lemercier received careful training in Rome , from 1607 at the latest until 1612. After his return, he won the favor of both the Queen Mother and regent Maria de Medici and the Cardinal de Richelieu and in 1613 entered the service of Louis XIII. who appointed him first court architect ( Premier architecte du Roi ) in 1639 .

Lemercier built numerous castles, city palaces, churches, monasteries and high altars in Paris and the province, as well as, on behalf of the cardinal, the city of Richelieu . In 1626 he succeeded Salomon de Brosse as architect for the building of the Palais du Luxembourg and in 1646 after François Mansart for the completion of the new church of the Val de Grâce monastery.

Works (selection)

University Chapel Ste. Ursule today

• St-Joseph-des-Carmes (1613 to 1620), Carmelite Church in Paris
• Pont Neuf in Toulouse , 1614 to 1632 (design and construction of the stone arches)
• Pavillon de l'Horloge (1624) for the Louvre in Paris
• West wing of the Cour Carrée (1624) for the Louvre in Paris (extension of the Pierre Lescot wing)
• Palais Royal (from 1624) in Paris; by Lemercier's contribution to this city palace only stayed gallery of Proues get
• Oratoire du Louvre (1627 to 1630, with Louis Métezeau ) in Paris
• Plans for the city and the Richelieu Castle (1631)
• Plans for the high altar of the parish church of St-Eustache de Paris (1634)
• Plans for the church of the Couvent des Cordeliers Franciscan monastery (1634; destroyed) in Paris
• Ste. Ursule, university chapel (1635) of the Sorbonne in Paris
• Church of the Val de Grâce monastery (from 1646) in Paris, based on plans by François Mansart
• Parish church of Saint-Roch (1653) in Paris (plans and construction of the main nave)

literature

• Anthony Blunt: Art et Architecture en France , Paris 1983, ISBN 2-865-89-007-4 .
• Alexandre Gady: Jacques Lemercier: architecte et ingénieur du Roi , Paris 2005, ISBN 2-7351-1042-7 .

Web links

Commons : Jacques Lemercier  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Jacques Lemercier. In: Structurae
• Jacques Lemercier. In: arch INFORM .