French Neo-Gothic Style

Anglomanie, the fascination with all things English, spanned the eighteenth century and the early part of the nineteenth century. The French neo-Gothic began during this period. An early French supporter of neo-Gothic architecture, Alexandre de Laborde introduced the concept of the beauty to his countrymen. The earliest neo-Gothic artistic venture of any size, however, did not take place until 1828, when Alexandre Brogniart, produced fired enamel paintings under commission for the French king Louis-Philippe, then duke of Orléans, to grace the royal chapel at Dreux.

As with the English approach to the Gothic Revival, the French return to Gothic architecture eventually became more sober and intellectual in nature. This period began with the Societé des Antiquaires de Normandy, founded by Arcisse de Caumont, who also published a work on Norman architecture in 1830. Victor Hugo’s Nôtre Dame de Paris, published in 1831, was intended to incite public awareness of existing Gothic architecture in an effort to ensure its survival. What resulted instead, in part due to his novel, was a fascination with revisiting Gothic architecture through new and unique construction. The Basilica of Sainte-Clothilde, for which construction was begun in Paris September 1846, was designed and built by a French architect of German extraction named François-Christian Gau. This basilica was completed with a modified design following his death by his assistant, Théodore Ballu, and was consecrated in November 1857.

Similar entries

• “Morality” of Gothic Architecture
• Neo-Gothic Style and Nationalism
• French “Iron Gothic” Movement
• Modern Gothic
• Architectural Style
• Gothic Revival in the Decorative Arts
• Gothic Architecture - “Survival” vs. “Revival”
• Gothic Revival Architecture
• Ecclesiastical Ornamentation in Gothic Architecture
• Châteauesque – 16th Century French Design in 19th Century USA
• Gothic Architecture - 20th Century and Beyond
• Longhouses in Europe
• Federal Architecture
• Italianate style in England
• Greek Revival Emergence in Germany and France