Ange-Jacques Gabriel - biography
Who is Ange-Jacques Gabriel?
Born in 1698-10-26 Paris - died in 1782-01-04 Paris
He was the most prominent French architect of his generation. Born to a Parisian family of architects and initially trained by the royal architect Robert de Cotte and his father (who died in 1742), whom he assisted in the creation of the Place Royale (now Place de la Bourse) at Bordeaux (completed in 1735), the younger Gabriel was made a member of the Académie royale d'architecture in 1728. He was the principal assistant to his father as Premier Architecte at Versailles from 1735 and succeeded him in the position in 1742, essentially making him the premier architect of France, a role he retained for most of the reign of Louis XV.
