Preferred Title:
|
Church of the Val-de-Grâce
|
Alternate Title:
|
Église du Val-de-Grâce
|
Image View:
|
Steps and main entrance portico with inscription
|
Creator:
|
François Mansart (French architect, ca. 1598-1666); Jacques Lemercier (French architect, ca.1584-1654); Pierre Le Muet (French architect, 1591-1669)
|
Location:
|
site: Paris, Île-de-France, France
|
Location Note:
|
5th arrondissement; 1, place Alphonse Laveran
|
GPS:
|
+48.840833+2.341944
|
Date:
|
ca. 1645-1667 (creation)
|
Cultural Context:
|
French
|
Style Period:
|
Baroque; Seventeenth century
|
Work Type 1:
|
church
|
Classification:
|
architecture
|
Technique:
|
carving (processes); construction (assembling)
|
Inscription:
|
Porch pediment: "IESU NASCENTI VIRGINIQ(UE) MATRI."
|
Description:
|
The Church of the Val-de-Grâce is the church of a former royal abbey in what is now the Val-de-Grâce Hospital. The dome of the church is a principal landmark of the skyline of Paris. The church was initially designed by François Mansart, succeeded by Jacques Lemercier, who designed the dome. In 1645 Mansart was appointed by the queen, Anne of Austria, to add a church to the convent of the Val-de-Grâce, which she frequently visited on retreat. For this project Mansart devised a highly imaginative scheme based on the Escorial in Spain, where Anne had spent her youth. His design for the church was original in many respects, with bell-towers flanking the nave and a projecting single-storey entrance portico, more reminiscent of his château frontispieces than of a conventional church front. Mansart left the project after only one year. The abbey was turned into a military hospital after the French Revolution, but the church was preserved. (Source: Grove Art Online; http://www.oxfordartonline.com/)
|
Image Description:
|
To give thanks for the birth of her son, Anne of Austria dedicated the church in honor of the Virgin Mary. The dedication on the porch pediment reads "IESU NASCENTI VIRGINIQ(UE) MATRI."
|
Collection:
|
Archivision Addition Module Nine
|
Identifier:
|
1A2-F-P-VDG-A14
|
Rights:
|
© Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc.
|