Six months after his appointment as president of the public establishment of Versailles, Jean-Jacques Aillagon organized a press conference on December 11 (ill. 1) to present the projects already underway and those planned for the future.
Among the announcements, there are some positive and not so positive news. Let us start with the good news first: the excellent decision to bring indoors, finally, the group of the Baths of Apollo, for which we had recently pointed out their worrisome (...)   continue

Alexandre Gady, Doctor in Art History, “maître de conférence�? at Paris IV-Sorbonne, is a specialist in architecture of Temps Modernes and author of numerous works, including the recent monographic study on Jacques Lemercier
This university professor is also vice-president of a French association for the protection of national heritage, called Momus. He does not pay lip service to prevailing opinions, a rare quality in our field and one he demonstrates in the following interview.
You are the (...)   continue

A section of the château of Fontainebleau, known as the “Quartier Henri IV” which runs around the "Cour des Offices", is currently being restored. The work had become imperative as the building had been deteriorating for a long time. It is supposed to house the "Centre Européen de Musique de Chambre" within the next two years. In 1999, a preliminary study had been submitted by Jacques Moulin, Chief Architect for Monuments Historiques (ACMH), the contractor in charge of the project. The study, (...)  continue

Today, August 29, the excavation site for the château de Blérancourt saw a flurry of activity. This morning, the representatives of The American Friends of Blérancourt came to check progress on the digging and see the ruins that had already been unearthed.  continue

The château of Blérancourt was built from 1612 to 1619 by Salomon de Brosse, one of the most important architects in France at the beginning of the XVIIth C. who had designed notably the Luxembourg Palace (today it houses the Senate). It is the first example of a ‘château massé’(i.e. without wings on each side turning in on the courtyard), a model which was to be used more often later on and which can be found, for example, at Vaux-le-Vicomte.
As one can see in the engraving by Israel Silvestre (...)   continue

In November 2006, we spoke out against the demolition of the church in Saint-Georges-des Gardes, in Maine-et-Loire. An article in Le Figaro May 18, 2007 informs us that two other religious buildings are to be destroyed just a few kilometres away from the village, or rather, not destroyed  continue