Laurent-Benoît Dewez (1731-1812), Architect in the Age of Enlightenment : Designing for Government, Church, and Court in the Southern Low Countries.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Vijver, Dirk Van de.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Classicism in architecture.

Architecture, Flemish.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (306 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Leuven : Leuven University Press, 2025.

Summary:

This book provides an in-depth exploration of the life and works of Laurent-Benoît Dewez (1731–1812), a prominent architect of the Southern Low Countries during the Age of Enlightenment. It examines his architectural contributions to government, church, and court commissions, highlighting his training in Rome, his influence from Italian and English architectural traditions, and his adaptation of French classicism. The author investigates Dewez's role as court architect, delving into his projects, management practices, and relationships with patrons and government bodies. The book also discusses his architectural language, typologies, and the legacy of his pupils. Drawing on archival sources, including drawings and written documents, this publication offers a comprehensive synthesis of Dewez's career and his impact on 18th-century architecture. It is intended for scholars, historians, and enthusiasts of architectural history. Generated by AI.

Contents:

Cover

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. Historiography

1.1. Architectural criticism of Dewez during his lifetime

1.2. Printed and handwritten biographical notes, obituaries, and epigraphs until 1812

1.3. Dewez’s architecture in the published history of the period: Goetghebuer and Schayes

1.4. Biographic notes, local monograph articles, and syntheses 1850–1965

1.5. Duquenne

2. Architectural Training

2.1. Liège to Rome

2.2. Adam’s draughtsman: Rome to London

2.3. Dewez’s Italian and English sources through his drawings

2.4. The SCAB drawings rejected

3. Commissions

3.1. Architect of (church and) government

Architect of “Eglise Belgique”

The financial precondition: the origin of the building craze of religious patrons

Orval, Dewez’s call to the Southern Low Countries

Cobenzl and Neny

Abbatial elections

Loan permissions

The decision process within the abbey

Architect of the central government and civil policy issues

Infrastructure at Ostend

Education and the Old University of Louvain

Penitentiary and Vilvorde

Accommodation of governmental institutions

The city administrations of Brussels, Ostend, Binche, and Bouillon

3.2. Court architect Generated by AI.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Part of the metadata in this record was created by AI, based on the text of the resource.

ISBN:

9789461666291

9461666292

9789461666284

9461666284

OCLC:

1491117798