LESCOT, Pierre

Shortly before his death, Fran�ois I commissioned Pierre Lescot to rebuild the western wing of the Louvre. In 1550 he was joined by the sculptor Jean Goujon. Together they developed an architectural vocabulary, playing with perspective, accentuating the reliefs in the fa�ade’s upper reaches.

On the attic level, below a pediment containing two winged Victories, Henri II is represented in the guise of Mars and opposite Bellona; the window between them is flanked by two bound and kneeling captives.

Lescot is almost certainly responsible for the H�tel Carnavalet, the known contracts for which date from 1548, and which is the only example of a Paris house to survive from the middle of the sixteenth century. The building has been much altered, but certain parts of the original survive: the main fa�ade of the court with the sculptures of the Four Seasons from the studio of Goujon, the turrets which flank it, and the entrance, also decorated by Goujon.

The photo shows court of the building. The most interesting feature is the decoration of the main fa�ade of the court with its reliefs from the studio of Goujon. This arrangement was to be widely followed later in Paris.

Lescot is almost certainly responsible for the H�tel Carnavalet, the known contracts for which date from 1548, and which is the only example of a Paris house to survive from the middle of the sixteenth century. The building has been much altered, but certain parts of the original survive: the main fa�ade of the court with the sculptures of the Four Seasons from the studio of Goujon, the turrets which flank it, and the entrance, also decorated by Goujon.

The photo shows court of the building. The most interesting feature is the decoration of the main fa�ade of the court with its reliefs from the studio of Goujon. This arrangement was to be widely followed later in Paris.

In 1527 King Francis I announced his intention of rebuilding the medieval palace of the Louvre. He pulled down the keep which blocked a great part of the Cour Carr� (Square Court), but for many years nothing more was done. In 1546, however, he commissioned Pierre Lescot to erect a new building on the site of the west wing of the old château. Originally the plan had only been to rebuild this one wing or at most to carry on the same scheme round the existing court, but at some date between 1551 and 1559 it was certainly decided to embark on a more ambitious plan and to build a court enclosed by blocks double the length of Lescot’s executed wing. This plan was not carried out till the reigns of Louis XIII and Louis XIV, but all documents of this later period give the credit of the original idea for the extension to Lescot.

The photo shows the Lescot wing.

In 1527 King Francis I announced his intention of rebuilding the medieval palace of the Louvre. He pulled down the keep which blocked a great part of the Cour Carr� (Square Court), but for many years nothing more was done. In 1546, however, he commissioned Pierre Lescot to erect a new building on the site of the west wing of the old château. Originally the plan had only been to rebuild this one wing or at most to carry on the same scheme round the existing court, but at some date between 1551 and 1559 it was certainly decided to embark on a more ambitious plan and to build a court enclosed by blocks double the length of Lescot’s executed wing. This plan was not carried out till the reigns of Louis XIII and Louis XIV, but all documents of this later period give the credit of the original idea for the extension to Lescot.

The photo shows the south side of the west wing of the Cour Carr�. The most striking feature of the fa�ade is its classicism. The fa�ade is entirely articulated with pilasters of the most decorative Orders, Corinthian and Composite. The sculptural decoration is the work of Jean Goujon who must have been a collaborator with the architect on more or less equal terms.

In 1527 King Francis I announced his intention of rebuilding the medieval palace of the Louvre. He pulled down the keep which blocked a great part of the Cour Carr� (Square Court), but for many years nothing more was done. In 1546, however, he commissioned Pierre Lescot to erect a new building on the site of the west wing of the old château. Originally the plan had only been to rebuild this one wing or at most to carry on the same scheme round the existing court, but at some date between 1551 and 1559 it was certainly decided to embark on a more ambitious plan and to build a court enclosed by blocks double the length of Lescot’s executed wing. This plan was not carried out till the reigns of Louis XIII and Louis XIV, but all documents of this later period give the credit of the original idea for the extension to Lescot.

The photo shows one of the corners in the Cour Carr�.

In 1527 King Francis I announced his intention of rebuilding the medieval palace of the Louvre. He pulled down the keep which blocked a great part of the Cour Carr� (Square Court), but for many years nothing more was done. In 1546, however, he commissioned Pierre Lescot to erect a new building on the site of the west wing of the old château. Originally the plan had only been to rebuild this one wing or at most to carry on the same scheme round the existing court, but at some date between 1551 and 1559 it was certainly decided to embark on a more ambitious plan and to build a court enclosed by blocks double the length of Lescot’s executed wing. This plan was not carried out till the reigns of Louis XIII and Louis XIV, but all documents of this later period give the credit of the original idea for the extension to Lescot.

The photo shows the view of the Cour Carr� towards south.