Victor Baltard (9 June 1805 – 13 January 1874) was a French architect famed for work in Paris including designing Les Halles market and the Saint-Augustin church.
From 1849 on, he was Architect of the City of Paris. In this office, he was responsible for the restoration of several churches, as well as the construction of the Catholic Saint-Augustin (1860–67), in which he united the structural values of stone and steel.[3]
His most popular achievement was, however, the building of Les Halles, the central market in Paris, during the years 1853 to 1870.[4] In 1972 and 1973, however, these halls were torn down. A single hall (completed in 1854) was classified as a historical monument and moved to Nogent-sur-Marne in 1971, where it is now known as the Pavillon Baltard.
He was largely instrumental in introducing a regular scheme of fresco decoration by modern artists in the churches of Paris, to take the place of the heterogeneous collections of pictures of all kinds with which their walls had been promiscuously decorated.[2]
Works
[edit]Drawing of the main facade of the Church of Saint Augustin, Paris
Facade of Notre-Dame-des-Blancs-Manteaux: originally from the Church of St-Elois-des-Barnabites which was then located in the Ile de la Cité, but was destroyed during the work of Haussmann and reassembled by Baltard in 1863.
Restoration of the church of Saint-Étienne-du-Mont: he directed the construction of the chapel of Catechisms and restored the facade of the church between 1861 and 1868.
Restoration of the church of Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis: The architect is responsible primarily for the redevelopment of the choir and the refurbishment of the facade.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Baltard, Louis Pierre s.v. Victor Baltard". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 286.
