Early career Philbert de l'Orme was born between 3 and 9 June 1514 in
Lyon. His father was Jehan de L'Orme, a master mason and entrepreneur, who, in the 1530s, employed three hundred workers and built prestigious buildings for the elite of the city. When Philibert was nineteen he departed Lyon for Italy, where he remained for three years, working on building projects for
Pope Paul III. In Rome he was introduced to Cardinal
Jean du Bellay, the Ambassador of King
François I to the Vatican, who became his protector and client. Du Bellay was also the patron of his friend
Francois Rabelais. In about 1540 de l'Orme moved to Paris, and was soon occupied with royal projects.
Royal architect of Henry II (1548-1559) , built for
Diane de Poitiers On April 3, 1548 he was a named architect of the King by
Henry II. For a period of eleven years, he supervised all of the King's architectural projects, with the exception of changes to the
Louvre, which were planned by another royal architect,
Pierre Lescot. His major projects included the
Château de St Maur-des-Fossés, the
Château d'Anet, the
Château de Chenonceau in the
Loire Valley; the royal
Château de Madrid in the
Bois de Boulogne; the
Château de Vincennes, and major modifications to the
Palace of Fontainebleau. He also made a reputation as a writer and theorist, and as an innovator in building techniques. He invented a new system for making the essential wooden frameworks for constructing stone buildings, called
charpente à petits bois, which was quicker and less expensive than previous methods and used much less wood. He demonstrated it before the King in 1555, and put it to work in construction at the new royal
Château de Montceaux and at the royal hunting lodge
La Muette in the
Forest of Saint-Germain-en-Laye.
Out of favor - architectural theorist (1559-1563) The death of
Henry II of France on July 10, 1559 suddenly left him without a patron and at the mercy of rival architects who resented his success and his style. Two days later, on 10 July, he was dismissed from his official posts, and replaced by an Italian artist and architect,
Francesco Primaticcio, whose work was much in fashion. He had joined a religious order, and decided to turn his attention to meditation, scholarship and writing. He made another trip to Rome to inspect the new works of
Michelangelo. Beginning in 1565 wrote the first volume of a work on architectural theory, which was scientific and philosophical. It was published in 1567, and was followed by new editions after his death in 1576, 1626 and 1648.
Royal architect again (1563-1570) Under
Charles IX and
Catherine de Medici, he returned to royal favor. He was employed on the enlargement of the Chateau of Saint Maur (1563) and, along with
Jean Bullant, on additions to the
Tuileries Palace (1564). He died in Paris in 1570, while this project was underway. His other major accomplishment was to resist the tendency to simply copy Italian architectural styles; he traveled and studied in Italy, and borrowed much, but he always added a distinctly French look to each of his projects. ==Works attributed to de l'Orme==