Émile Boeswillwald

French architect

Émile Boeswillwald
1890 painting of Boeswillwald by Léon Bonnat
Born	(1815-02-02)2 February 1815 Strasbourg
Died	20 March 1896(1896-03-20) (aged 81) Paris, France
Nationality	French
Occupation	Architect
Known for	Inspector General of Historic Monuments

Émile Boeswillwald (2 February 1815 – 20 March 1896) was a French architect. He succeeded Prosper Mérimée as Inspector General of Historic Monuments and collaborated with Eugène Viollet-le-Duc.

Life

Emile Boeswillwald born in Strasbourg on 2 February 1815. He learned the trade of stonemason, continuing his apprenticeship in Munich in 1836. He then studied architecture in the workshop of Henri Labrouste and at the École des Beaux-Arts in 1837.^[1]

Boeswillwald exhibited at the Salons of 1839, 1841, 1842, 1844 and 1855. In 1860 he was appointed inspector general of historical monuments. He thus became a member of the committee on historical monuments and the Council of Civil Buildings.^[1] In 1864 land was purchased beside the Villa Eugénie in Biarritz on which to erect a chapel designed by Boeswillwald.^[2] The chapel, dedicated to Our Lady of Guadeloupe, was consecrated in September 1865. It incorporated an eclectic mix of Roman and Byzantine art with Hispano-Moorish elements from Seville and Granada. It was painted by Alexandre-Dominique Denuelle and Louis Steinheil.^[3]

Boeswillwald produced a series of watercolor drawings of the soldiers of the First Empire in the years 1890–1891. The painter Léon Bonnat represented his friend in 1890. Emile Boeswillwald died in Paris on 20 March 1896.^[1] His son, Paul Boeswillwald, was also an architect. His grandson Émile Artus Boeswillwald was a painter.

Work

Restoration of the Abbatial church of Notre-Dame de Mouzon
Transformation of Château de Pontchartrain for the family of Auguste Dreyfus
Restoration of the Cathédrale Saint-Étienne de Toul, which his son, Paul, continued
Restoration of the church of Vignory
Restoration of the Abbey of Saint-Germer-de-Fly
Restoration of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Laon
Restoration of the Sainte-Chapelle
Restoration of Église Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul, Neuwiller-lès-Saverne
Design of the restoration for the Sainte-Croix de Quimperlé Abbey
Complete design of Xifré Downing Palace. Madrid. Spain.

Awards

Second-class medal at the Salon in 1849
Knight of the Legion of Honor in 1853
Officer of the Legion of Honor in 1865
Commander of the Legion of Honor in 1889

Bibliography

Co-author with René Cagnat and Albert Ballu: Timgad, une cité africaine sous l'Empire romain, Paris, 1895–1905, E. Leroux, (available on Gallica).

References

Citations

^ ^a ^b ^c BOESWILLWALD Émile: Elec.
^ McQueen 2011, p. 243.
^ Granger 2005, p. 237.

Sources

"BOESWILLWALD Émile". elec. École nationale des chartes. Retrieved 2013-06-13.
Granger, Catherine (2005). L'Empereur et les arts: la liste civile de Napoléon III. Librairie Droz. ISBN 978-2-900791-71-4. Retrieved 2013-06-11.
McQueen, Alison (2011). Empress Eugénie and the Arts: Politics and Visual Culture in the Nineteenth Century. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 978-1-4094-0585-6. Retrieved 2013-06-11.