Chalgrin, Jean François

Chalgrin, Jean François (zhäN fräNswä` shälgrăN`), 1739–1811, French architect. He studied under Servandoni and in Italy as a winner of the Grand Prix de Rome (1758). He rebuilt (1777) part of the Church of St. Sulpice in Paris. His most influential work was the Church of St. Philippe-du-Roule, in which he reintroduced a basilica plan to French ecclesiastical architecture. He also enlarged the buildings of the Collège de France and, after the Revolution, altered the palace of the Luxembourg to serve as headquarters for the Directory. In 1806 he was commissioned by Napoleon to design a commemorative arch to the victorious armies of France, and the executed scheme for the Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile was chiefly Chalgrin's, although he died shortly after commencement of the actual construction.