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Review: Jules Hardouin-Mansart; Jules Hardouin-Mansart, 1646–1708; Bâtir Pour Le Roi: Jules Hardouin-Mansart (1646–1708), Jean-François Bédard

School of Architecture - All Scholarship

In this review, Jean-François Bédard examines two book projects that look at Jules Hardouin-Mansart, who became First Architect to the King in 1681 and Superintendent of Works in 1699. His tenure was marked by a great flurry of activity and the generation of an immense quantity of documents. However, Hardouin-Mansart's professional and social success had a negative impact on the critical reception of his work. In fact many architectural historians doubted that he was behind many of the projects. The projects attempt to reevaluate Hardouin-Mansart's legacy as a designer. Bertrand Jestaz's two volume Jules Hardouin-Mansart is a greatly expanded and …