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Viollet-le-Duc, Eugène Emanuel
architect and archaeologist; b. Jan. 21, 1814; d. Sept. 17, 1879 (at Lausanne, Switzerland).
He was educated at the Collège Bourbon (Paris) and in the atelier of Achille Leclère. At the suggestion of his father, who was employed in the conservation of public buildings, he made a journey through France, studying and sketching the monuments. he traveled through Italy in the same way. Returning to France, in 1840, he undertook the restoration of the abbey church of Vézelay (Yonne, France) and the church of S. Père-Sous-Vézelay. About this time he restored the Hôtel de Ville at Narbonne (Aude, France), and was appointed auditor of the Council des bâtiments civils. He was associated with Lassus, in the restoration of the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris. In 1842 Lassus and Violette-le-Duc were commissioned to superintend the restoration of the cathedral of Notre Dame (Paris). At the death of Lassus, in 1857, Violette-le-Duc retained sole charge of that work, and designed the central spire and great altar, as well as the new sacristy and treasury adjoining the south flank. In 1846 he begun the restoration of the abbey church of S. Denis, near Paris, and had charge of that building until his death. From 1849 to 1874 he was architect of the diocesan buildings of Reims and Amiens. In 1852 he took charge of the restoration of the cité of Carcassonne (France), with the ancient fortifications, and in 1853 was appointed inspector géneral des édifices diocéains. In 1858 he begun the reconstruction of the château of Pierrefonds (Oise, France). In 1862 he restored the church of S. Sernin, at Toulouse, and in 1863 the château of Coucy.
In 1863 he was appointed professor of aesthetics at the Ecole des Beaux Arts (Paris). As his lectures were not in arrangement with the traditions of the school, the students refused to listen to him. He resigned his position the following year, and published the material which he had prepared as the Entretiens sur l'Architecture. In 1873 he begun the restoration of the cathedral of Lausanne (Switzerland), and built the fine spire of that church. Violette-le-Duc restored many less important monuments, and erected many new buildings through France. Among his many publications, the most important are L'Art Russe: Les Origines, etc. (Paris, 1877 1 vol. 4to); Comment on construit une maison (4th ed., Paris, 1883, 1 vol. 12mo); Description et histoire du château de Pierrefonds (8th ed., Paris, 1876, 1 vol. 8vo), Dictionnaire raisonné du l'Architecture français (Paris, 1854-1868, 10 vols. 8to); Dictionnaire raisonné du Mobilier français (Paris, 1858-1875, 6 vols. 4to); Entretiens sur l'Architecture (Paris, 1863-1872, 2 vols. 8vo and atlas), Essai sur l'Architecture Militaire au Moyen Âge (Paris, 1854, 1 vol. 4to); Habitations modernes (Paris, 1875-1877, 2 vols. folio); Histoire d'un Hôtel de Ville et d'une Cathedrale (Paris, 1878, 1 vol. 8vo), Histoire d'un forteresse (Paris, 1870, 1 vol. folio), and with Lassus, Monographie de Notre Dame (Paris, no date, 1 vol. folio).
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