Gabriel, Jacques-Ange

(1698-1782)

   architect

   Born in Paris, Jacques-Ange Gabriel, who worked with his father, Jacques Gabriel (1667-1742), also an architect and creator of the Biron mansion in Paris, completed some of his father's projects (Place Royale in Bordeaux) and succeeded him in 1742 as first architect to King louis XV and director of the Academy of Architecture. He renovated several royal residences (Fontainebleau, 1749; Compiègne, 1751; Choisy, 1752; Blois) and at Versailles began the rebuilding of a lateral wing on the courtyard. Also at Versailles, he designed the Opéra (1753), and the Petit Trianon (1762-68), characterized by elegance and refinement in proportion and décor. in Paris, he conceived the plans for the Place Louis XV (today the Place de la Concorde) and built the two buildings that border it (1762-70). He also built the Military School (1751-75). Remaining faithful to the spirit of classical French architecture, he had the genius to arrange volume and integrate, in a measured way, decorative aspects. At the same time, the sobriety and amplitude of Gabriel's works foreshadowed neoclassicism.