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 Hôtel
de la Marine
Sponsorship
Renovation
works
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 Ange-Jacques
Gabriel was a child of 18th-century architecture who
managed to combine the Baroque movement with the imposing
fixity of Neoclassicism. Far removed from the exuberance
of Bernini, his work embodies simplicity in architectural
choices, a sense of urban harmony, and monumental elegance.
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He came from a line of architects. His grandfather was an
architect, and his father had designed the Municipal Chambers
in the city of Rennes. Ange-Jacques Gabriel was the favourite
architect of King Louis XV for close to 30 years. Despite
the Kingdom's financial straits due to the ruinous Seven Years'
War, he was able to build extravagant edifices such as those
on Place Louis XV (Place de la Concorde), the École
Militaire, several royal residences, and the Versailles
opera house.
The project for Place Louis XV followed the tradition for
"royal squares" (in 1750, Paris already had four
places dedicated to a sovereign): the King exhibits his splendour
and at the same time develops parts of the city that had hitherto
been neglected.
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Place des Victoires
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A royal square is generally built
around a statue of the monarch. In this respect, the Place
Louis XIV (now known as Place des Victoires) is emblematic
of the symbolism of power: the Duke de la Feuillade had it
built as a gift to the King, and Jules Hardouin-Mansart laid
down requirements for buildings around the square, incorporating
measures so that passers-by approaching from any of the streets
onto the place could at all times clearly see the statue -
which was lit by torches night and day.
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The
project for construction of Place Louis XV/Place de la Concorde
was set in motion in 1748 by the Municipality of Paris, something
which did not rank Gabriel among the favourites since he was
the leading architect of the King. The first competition concerned
the location, for it was important to focus on a popular or
distant part of the city.
At the time, the place where the Place de la Concorde now
lies, between the Tuileries Bridge and the Champs Élysées,
was marshland beyond the city walls. It belonged to the King
who had acquired it from the estate of bankrupt Scots financier
John Law. The King decided to give the land to the Municipality.
Several members of the Academy of Architecture drew up plans
but none were to the King's liking. Gabriel too drew up a
preliminary sketch which was found to be no more appealing.
The Royal Architect was then asked by Louis XV and Marigny,
the Superintendent of Royal Buildings, to take the best elements
of each of his colleagues' projects and blend them together.
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Gabriel's project
for Place Louis XV |
Gabriel
sought to open up new vistas within the city: consequently
only one side of the square has buildings on it, two being
planted with gardens and the third overlooking the Seine.
This choice of making an open, airy square was soon to be
imitated, in Nancy, for example, with the Place Stanislas.
He also adopted the ideas of several of his colleagues: making
the land less marshy by excavating drains, and intersecting
the east-west axis of the Tuileries and Champs Élysées
with Rue Royale.
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He designed two residential buildings, one
on each side of Rue Royale. One backed onto Rue Bonne-Morue
(now Rue Boissy d'Anglas): it is currently known as the
Hôtel de Crillon (and is a hotel). The second building,
the Hôtel de la Marine, initially a storage building
for royal furnishings, backed onto Rue Saint Florentin (same
name today).
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Both buildings exhibit traits of a thoroughly
French architectural tradition: the colonnade, which is
quite a rare feature in Gabriel's work, was inspired directly
by the Corinthian columns of the Louvre. The peristyle at
the front of the building serves as a balcony for the official
salons. The Neoclassical style of the façade is further
underlined by the ornamentation of the lateral pavilions
styled on Classical Antiquity: trophies, ancones, medallions,
and coquillages add more life to the building. The allegorical
figures on the pediments were sculpted by Guillaume II Coustou,
among others.
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The building was greatly appreciated
by contemporaries, for it matched the taste, at that time,
for elegant, subdued architecture. It symbolises the extension
of the city by means of a public square to which Parisians
often flock and which has become deeply popular.
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(Updated: August 2007)  |
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