Château royal de Blois
Blois
1214 - 1638
Château d’Ussé
Rigny-Ussé
15th - 17th century
François Mansart
François Mansart was born in Paris on 23 January 1598 into a family of craftsmen; his father was a royal master carpenter. Orphaned at the age of twelve, he began his apprenticeship with his brother-in-law, the sculptor-architect Germain Gauthier, before continuing his training in the workshop of Salomon de Brosse, one of the leading architects of the time. Between 1635 and 1638 he was entrusted with rebuilding part of the Château de Blois, designing the Gaston d’Orléans Wing with its elegantly structured façade articulated by superimposed classical orders. Over the following decades he became a central figure in the development of French Classicism. Although his exacting standards and constant revisions sometimes led to disputes and lost commissions, his influence remained profound long after his death on 23 September 1666 — not least through the distinctive roof form that later took his name, the mansard roof.