SOUFFLOT, Jacques-Germain

In 1768 Marquis de Marigny had Soufflot renovate his residence on faubourg du Roule. The architect designed a fa�ade with Serlian archway in the centre, giving onto a loggia. Serlian archways were set on columns detached from the wall, creating two side openings that forma triptych with the main arch - the motif that characterizes Palladio’s basilica in Vicenza. Construction was completed in 1771. Our knowledge of the project is based on four surviving drawings by Soufflot.

Jacques-Germain Soufflot received the commission to build the church of Sainte-Genevi�ve in Paris. He dreamed of a synthesis of “Greek sublimity and the ethereal Gothic”. He constructed a building on a Greek cross, with portico extension. Its Neoclassical interior evoked a sense of lightness in spite of its academic rigor. The crossing piers nevertheless had to be reinforced during construction in order to support the monumental dome. This church was altered in Republican times and converted for use as the Pantheon.

View the ground plan of the Panth�on, Paris.

The Panth�on in Paris was begun about 1756 by the architect Jacques-Germain Soufflot as the Church of Sainte-Genevi�ve to replace a much older church of that name on the same site. It was secularized during the French Revolution and dedicated to the memory of great Frenchmen, receiving the name Panth�on. Its design exemplified the Neoclassical return to a strictly logical use of classical architectural elements.

The Panth�on is a cruciform building with a high dome over the crossing and lower saucer-shaped domes (covered by a sloping roof) over the four arms. The facade, like that of the Roman Pantheon, is formed by a porch of Corinthian columns and triangular pediment attached to the ends of the eastern arm.

At Soufflot’s death in 1780 only the vaulting of the naves was complete. By 1790 the dome was completed but the sculpted decoration of the interior was only half-finished. From 1791, following a Revolutionary decree, the church was altered into the Panth�on des Grands Hommes. Antoine Quatrem�re de Quincy (1755-1849) had the buttresses demolished and, more crucially, the lower windows blocked up; this radically altered the lighting effects Soufflot had sought to achieve. Having removed the religious sculpture, Quatrem�re supplied a new programme for decorating the pediments (finally executed by David d’Angers in 1830s).

The Panth�on in Paris was begun about 1756 by the architect Jacques-Germain Soufflot as the Church of Sainte-Genevi�ve to replace a much older church of that name on the same site. It was secularized during the French Revolution and dedicated to the memory of great Frenchmen, receiving the name Panth�on. Its design exemplified the Neoclassical return to a strictly logical use of classical architectural elements.

The Panth�on is a cruciform building with a high dome over the crossing and lower saucer-shaped domes (covered by a sloping roof) over the four arms. The facade, like that of the Roman Pantheon, is formed by a porch of Corinthian columns and triangular pediment attached to the ends of the eastern arm.

At Soufflot’s death in 1780 only the vaulting of the naves was complete. By 1790 the dome was completed but the sculpted decoration of the interior was only half-finished. From 1791, following a Revolutionary decree, the church was altered into the Panth�on des Grands Hommes. Antoine Quatrem�re de Quincy (1755-1849) had the buttresses demolished and, more crucially, the lower windows blocked up; this radically altered the lighting effects Soufflot had sought to achieve. Having removed the religious sculpture, Quatrem�re supplied a new programme for decorating the pediments (finally executed by David d’Angers in 1830s).

Jacques-Germain Soufflot received the commission to build the church of Sainte-Genevi�ve in Paris. He dreamed of a synthesis of “Greek sublimity and the ethereal Gothic”. He constructed a building on a Greek cross, with portico extension. Its Neoclassical interior evoked a sense of lightness in spite of its academic rigor. The crossing piers nevertheless had to be reinforced during construction in order to support the monumental dome. This church was altered in Republican times and converted for use as the Pantheon.

The church’s brightly lit, airy interior struck contemporaries as an epoch-making work and the very existence of a new church architecture. The elegance of the slender columns and daring opening up of the wall surfaces by means of large windows were technical master strokes, achieved mainly through the novel employment of relieving arches, flying buttresses and concealed iron stays. During the planning process, the initially lavish decoration in late Baroque tradition was gradually reduced and replaced by classical motifs.

View the ground plan of the Panth�on, Paris.

Jacques-Germain Soufflot received the commission to build the church of Sainte-Genevi�ve in Paris. He dreamed of a synthesis of “Greek sublimity and the ethereal Gothic”. He constructed a building on a Greek cross, with portico extension. Its Neoclassical interior evoked a sense of lightness in spite of its academic rigor. The crossing piers nevertheless had to be reinforced during construction in order to support the monumental dome. This church was altered in Republican times and converted for use as the Pantheon.

The church’s brightly lit, airy interior struck contemporaries as an epoch-making work and the very existence of a new church architecture. The elegance of the slender columns and daring opening up of the wall surfaces by means of large windows were technical master strokes, achieved mainly through the novel employment of relieving arches, flying buttresses and concealed iron stays. During the planning process, the initially lavish decoration in late Baroque tradition was gradually reduced and replaced by classical motifs.

View the ground plan of the Panth�on, Paris.

Jacques-Germain Soufflot received the commission to build the church of Sainte-Genevi�ve in Paris. He dreamed of a synthesis of “Greek sublimity and the ethereal Gothic”. He constructed a building on a Greek cross, with portico extension. Its Neoclassical interior evoked a sense of lightness in spite of its academic rigor. The crossing piers nevertheless had to be reinforced during construction in order to support the monumental dome. This church was altered in Republican times and converted for use as the Pantheon.

A heavy pediment emphasizes the dignity of the main entrance; this dominates the vast esplanade planned around the church and partially closed in by Soufflot’s Ecole de Droit (designed 1763; built from 1771). The sculpture of the pediment was executed by David d’Angers.