Mansart, Nicolas Francois

Mansart, Nicolas Francois 

(also N. F. Mansard). Born Jan. 23, 1598, in Paris; died there Sept. 23, 1666. French architect.

Mansart studied under S. de Brosse. Reworking French and Italian Renaissance traditions, he was one of the important early figures of 17th-century classicism. In his works the plastic richness of the fagade decoration (containing baroque ornament) is combined with the clarity, simplicity, and strict symmetrically of the spatial composition. Mansart’s works include the Chateau de Blois (rebuilt 1635-38), the Chateau de Maisons (1642-50), the church of Val-de-Grace (1645-46, Paris; completed by J. Lemercier), and the Hotel Carnavalet (Paris, rebuilt 1660-61).

REFERENCES

Hautecoeur, L. Histoire de l#x201C;architecture classique en France, vol. 2, part 1. Paris, 1965.
Braham, A., and P. Smith. “Mansart Studies, I.” The Burlington Magazine, 1963, August, no. 725.
Braham, A., and P. Smith. “Mansart Studies, III.” Ibid., 1964, May, no. 734.
Braham, A., and P. Smith. “Mansart Studies, V.” Ibid., 1965, March, no. 744.