Delorme, Philibert
Delorme or de l'Orme, Philibert fēlēbĕr´ [key], c.1510–1570, French architect. Delorme was one of the greatest architects of the Renaissance in France, but unfortunately most of his work has been destroyed. Having traveled in Italy from 1533 to 1536, he introduced into France a form of classicism that endured until the mid-18th cent. As court architect to Francis I and Henry II, he designed the tomb of Francis I at Saint-Denis, a chapel at Villers-Cotterets, Château Neuf at Saint-Germain-en-Laye, and part of the palace of Fontainebleau. For Diane de Poitiers, mistress of Henry II, he planned (c.1550) the superb château at Anet. Upon the death of Henry II, Delorme fell into disgrace. During this time he wrote a treatise on architecture, Nouvelles Inventions pour bien bastir et à petits frais (1561), in which he proposed a modern French columnar order. In 1563 he was restored to favor by Catherine de' Medici, who commissioned him to design the Tuileries and the great gallery at Chenonceaux.
See study by A. Blunt (1958).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: Architecture: Biographies
Browse by Subject
- Earth and the Environment +-
- History +-
- Literature and the Arts +-
- Medicine +-
- People +-
- Philosophy and Religion +-
- Places +-
- Africa
- Asia
- Australia and Oceania
- Britain, Ireland, France, and the Low Countries
- Commonwealth of Independent States and the Baltic Nations
- Germany, Scandinavia, and Central Europe
- Latin America and the Caribbean
- Oceans, Continents, and Polar Regions
- Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, and the Balkans
- United States, Canada, and Greenland
- Plants and Animals +-
- Science and Technology +-
- Social Sciences and the Law +-
- Sports and Everyday Life +-