Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-

D u c 27 January 1814 – 17 September 1879

 Learnings from Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc Life

Early Exposure & Influences Initial

Restoration Work

Development of Restoration Theories Mature Work and Theoretical

Writings

Later Works & Legacy Enduring Influence

(Modern
Conservation)
 Early Exposure to Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc and
influences on him
He passed his baccalaureate examination in 1830. His uncle urged him to enter the École des Beaux-Arts,
which had been created in 1806, but the École had an extremely rigid system, based entirely on copying
classical models, and Eugène was not interested. Instead, he decided to get practical experience in the
architectural offices of Jacques-Marie Huvé and Achille Leclère, while devoting much of his time
to drawing medieval churches and monuments around Paris.

Eugène's uncle Delécluze agreed to take Eugène on a long tour of France to see monuments. They
travelled from July to October 1831 throughout the south of France, and he returned with a large
collection of detailed paintings and watercolors of churches and monuments.

He travelled around France to visit monuments, cathedrals, and other medieval architecture, made
detailed drawings and watercolors
Viollet-le-Duc - Dictionary Of French Architecture From The 11th To The 16th Century
The Arts and
movement
Crafts
was a
19th-century art and
design movement that
sought to revalue the
decorative arts and
Notable works handmade
craftsmanship
The Red House in Bexleyheath, South
East London, is a significant Arts and
Crafts building. It was co-designed in
1859 by William Morris and Philip Webb.
His writings on decoration and on the
relationship between form and function
in architecture had a fundamental
influence on a whole new generation of
architects, including all the major Art
Nouveau artists: Antoni Gaudi,
Victor Horta, Hector Guimard,
Henry van de Velde, Henri Sauvage
and the École de Nancy, Paul Hanker,
Otto Wagner, Eugène Grasset,
Émile Galle, and Hendrik Petrus Berlage
. He also influenced the first modern
architects, Frank Lloyd Wright
, Mies van der Rohe,
Auguste Perret, Louis Sullivan,
and Le Corbusier, who considered
Viollet-le-Duc as the father of
modern architecture. The English
architect William Burges admitted in
his late life "We all cribbed on
Viollet-le-Duc even though no one
could read French".
His writings also influenced John Ruskin
, William Morris, and the
Arts and Crafts movement. At the
International Exhibition of 1862 in
London, the aesthetic works of
Edward Burne-Jones, Christina Rossetti,
Philip Webb, William Morris,
 Conservation works timeline
And a Prominent
structure
1840’s 1850’s 1860’s 1870’s

1844- 1850-1855 1865 1980

1864
NOTRE- S A I N T- C H ÂT E AU D E JULY
DAME SERNIN R O Q U E TA I L L A D 18TH
CATHEDRAL BASILICA E
At Roquetaillade he was free to
Viollet-le-Duc’s first major He restored and Billy Joel's album
create his ideal medieval dream,
restoration project, where stabilized this with fully furnished living rooms, tops US charts,
he began implementing Romanesque church, dining rooms and bedrooms. This featuring "It's Still
his ideas on restoration by incorporating Gothic eruption of style and colors marks Rock 'n' Roll to
repairing and stabilizing elements to enhance the missing link between Me"
its architectural Gothic art and Art Nouveau
this historic Gothic
structure. character.
Viollet-le-Duc began his work on the Cathedral of Paris with Jean Baptiste Lassus in
1845, but after the death of Lassus in 1857, he became the only architect in
charge to the completion of this monument in 1864.

Exterior : In the restoration of Notre-Dame Cathedral, Adolphe Geoffroy-

Dechaume, under the guidance of architect Viollet-le-Duc, replaced damaged
statues with new carvings. They reproduced the statues of kings from Chartres
Cathedral, creating a row of twenty-eight figures for the Galerie des Rois. Viollet-le-
Duc prepared drawings for sculptures, used plaster casts, and coordinated with
fifteen sculptors to complete seventy-one statues. His restoration included adding
figures like Saint-Denis and the Virgin and Child to the façade.

Despite considering adding spires, Viollet-le-Duc left the towers incomplete to

preserve the iconic look. He also updated the roof, rebuilt medieval structures, and
restored rose windows, rotating the south rose by 15° and reinforcing it for Western façade: left, before restoration around 1840, middle
structural integrity, balancing restoration with preservation. drawing of sphere, with restoration project Viollet-le-Duc and Lassus
1843
Interior : Viollet-le-Duc, working with Maurice Ouradou, conducted the first full
restoration of the cathedral’s interior, revealing extensive damage to the vaults
and discovering traces of original decorative paint. In certain choir chapels, they
recreated hagiographic scenes. Respecting prior restoration from the 17th century,
Viollet-le-Duc preserved existing decorations instead of attempting to restore them
to an earlier style, although he did remove marble plaques in the round-point. He
also focused on liturgical metalwork, designing new choir furniture and organ
woodwork inspired by medieval art.

Fleche : The original, dated from early 13th century, collapsed in 1772 due to a
lack of maintenance, according to certain historians, but in some literature it can
be found that the same element was taken down between 1786 and 1792.
However, it becomes a reason for the architect to build a second spire, in 1853,
with independent structure from the cathedral, inspired by flèche on Sainte-
Chapelle. Viollet le Duc used the existing remains in order to interpolate a new
design that gave the final height to the cathedral of 96m. The base was octagonal
From left, chapel wall painting and ,next to it great organ half
supported by four transept pillars, with the construction formed of oak (chêne de elevation and framework
Champagne) and covered with lead as well as lead ornaments.
In 1847, he undertook a controversial restoration project for Saint Sernin of Toulouse: he
weighed down its contours by adorning the apse and apsidioles with stone from
Carcassonne (his technical concerns turned against him, for this material was unable to
withstand time, and it was decided in 1979 to revert to the church's initial state).
In 1865, the Mauvezins employed the renowned architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc to bring modernize their old building. Despite his
many projects, Viollet-le-Duc accepted because, in his eyes, Roquetaillade was the perfect castle. Moreover, he had carte
blanche and with this private contract there would be no civil servants on his back. At Roquetaillade he was free to create his ideal
medieval dream, with fully furnished living rooms, dining rooms and bedrooms. This eruption of style and colors marks the missing
link between Gothic art and Art Nouveau. The extraordinary interior decorations, with furnishings and paintings created by Viollet-le-
Duc, were listed as French Heritage in 1976 by the French Ministry of Culture.
 PHILOSOPHY

Viollet-le-Duc made up the truth by updating architecture and adding architectural elements
that had never existed. Through his “stylistic cleaning”, he removed younger parts of
monuments that did not date back to the Middle Ages and replaced them with new ones 'His
visions referred to the future and “the search for a hypothetical modern architecture” and
especially an ideal, aesthetically perfected form. He introduced many architectural
innovations using modern materials, including wrought iron and cast iron in historical
buildings to achieve both construction stability and the appearance of newness, while to
some extent denying the status of a historical building .