MANSART, FAMILY. - A family of Parisian artists in the 17th-18th centuries. JEAN (d. 1618), a wood sculptor, was appointed in 1606 "sculpteur des bâtiments du roi." Among the most important artists of the M. family are:
FRANÇOIS M., architect, b. in Paris on 23 Jan. 1598, d. there on 23 July 1666. A pupil of the architect Germain Gathier, with whom he collaborated on the château of Rennes, he built the château of Balleray in Normandy in 1626, the château of Berny (Seine) in 1630, and between 1632-34 the church of the Filles de la Visitation de-Ste-Marie, in Paris, where he settled permanently.
The Hôtel D'Albret dates from 1633, the château of Maisons-Lafitte from 1642-51, considered the masterpiece of French civil architecture of the 17th century, and the Mazarin Gallery from 1642. Between 1645 and 1665 M. built the abbey church of Val-de-Grâce. He was esteemed by his contemporaries as one of the greatest national architects; remaining tied to French tradition, he made use of a moderate classicism, with a sure and refined use of space and a severe restraint in decoration.
A pupil of François M. was his nephew JULES-HARDOUIN M., b. in Paris on 16 Apr. 1646, d. at Marly on 11 May 1708. From a very young age, as early as 1674 he was one of the royal architects, acquiring a preeminent position: in 1675 he was "architecte des bâtiments du roi," in 1699 he was named baron of Jouy and count of Sagonne. His name is linked to all the constructions of Louis XIV and his time; thanks to the favors he enjoyed, he acted as a dictator over French architecture of the late 17th century. From his uncle he learned the classicizing taste of the Italian tradition, while nevertheless following the stylistic evolution of French art of the 17th century, influenced also by Louis Le Vau, whose work he continued at the château of Versailles, executing in 1678 the facade facing the park, the interiors and the pavilions in the garden, until 1700. To him are owed numerous châteaux, at Clagny, at Marly-le-Roi, at Choisy-le-Roi, at St-Cloud, at Lunéville, as well as the enlargement of the Royal Palace of Paris, with the erection of the Gallery of Aeneas, and important religious buildings, such as the cathedral of Notre-Dame, at Versailles (1684-86) and the church of the Invalides in Paris (1693-1706): monumental works, but of clear and simple conception, with the repudiation of all decorative exuberance.
Bibliography
Eugenio Battisti