Laurent-Benoît Dewez
Encyclopedia
Walloons
Walloons are a French-speaking people who live in Belgium, principally in Wallonia. Walloons are a distinctive community within Belgium, important historical and anthropological criteria bind Walloons to the French people. More generally, the term also refers to the inhabitants of the Walloon...
origin. He is considered the most influential architect in the Austrian Netherlands (present-day Belgium) from the second half of the 18th-century. His architectural projects are of international stature and introduced a neoclassical style with Italian and English influences to the region. He designed a large number of château
Château
A château is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor or a country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally—and still most frequently—in French-speaking regions...
x, abbey
Abbey
An abbey is a Catholic monastery or convent, under the authority of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serves as the spiritual father or mother of the community.The term can also refer to an establishment which has long ceased to function as an abbey,...
s and churches in Belgium, many of which were damaged after the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
.
Early life
Dewez was born in Petit-Rechain near VerviersVerviers
Verviers is a Walloon city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Liège. The Verviers municipality includes the old communes of Ensival, Lambermont, Petit-Rechain, Stembert, and Heusy...
on 14 April 1731. The abbot of the Abbey of Saint Hubert
Saint-Hubert, Belgium
Saint-Hubert is a Walloon municipality of Belgium located in the province of Luxembourg.On 1 January 2007 the municipality, which covers 111.16 km², had 5,737 inhabitants, giving a population density of 51.6 inhabitants per square kilometre....
sent him on a study trip to Italy. There he worked with Luigi Vanvitelli
Luigi Vanvitelli
Luigi Vanvitelli was an Italian engineer and architect. The most prominent 18th-century architect of Italy, he practiced a sober classicizing academic Late Baroque style that made an easy transition to Neoclassicism.-Biography:Vanvitelli was born at Naples, the son of a Dutch painter of land and...
and came into contact with Robert Adam
Robert Adam
Robert Adam was a Scottish neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam , Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him...
, Giovanni Battista Piranesi
Giovanni Battista Piranesi
Giovanni Battista Piranesi was an Italian artist famous for his etchings of Rome and of fictitious and atmospheric "prisons" .-His Life:...
, Johann Joachim Winckelmann
Johann Joachim Winckelmann
Johann Joachim Winckelmann was a German art historian and archaeologist. He was a pioneering Hellenist who first articulated the difference between Greek, Greco-Roman and Roman art...
and Charles-Louis Clérisseau
Charles-Louis Clérisseau
Charles-Louis Clérisseau was a French architectural draughtsman, antiquary and artist. He had a role in the genesis of neoclassical architecture during the second half of the 18th century....
. After a subsequent study trip to Split
Split (city)
Split is a Mediterranean city on the eastern shores of the Adriatic Sea, centered around the ancient Roman Palace of the Emperor Diocletian and its wide port bay. With a population of 178,192 citizens, and a metropolitan area numbering up to 467,899, Split is by far the largest Dalmatian city and...
in company of Robert Adam
Robert Adam
Robert Adam was a Scottish neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam , Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him...
he worked briefly as an associate of the Adam brothers
Robert Adam
Robert Adam was a Scottish neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam , Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him...
in London in 1758. In 1759 he came back to the Austrian Netherlands to start the rebuilding of Abbaye Notre-Dame d'Orval, a work which was never completed.
Professional life
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
. He mainly worked for abbeys and nobility in the Austrian Netherlands. In 1767 he was appointed court architect to the Goveror of the Austrian Netherlands, Charles-Alexandre de Lorraine
Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine
Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine was a Lorraine-born Austrian soldier.-Background:Charles was the son of Leopold Joseph, Duke of Lorraine and Élisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans...
for whom he built the Castle of Mariemont which was demolished in the aftermath of the French revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
. A masterpiece still preserved today is the Château de Seneffe built between 1763 and 1768. His last great project was the new State Prison in Vilvoorde
Vilvoorde
Vilvoorde is a Belgian municipality in the Flemish province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality comprises the city of Vilvoorde proper with its two outlying quarters of Koningslo and Houtem and the small town of Peutie...
. Dewez's adversaries, envious of his success as court architect, accused him of failures and fraud in the execution of this project. Due to this accusations he fell into disfavour and was dismissed as court architect. On the invasion of the Austrian Netherlands by French revolutionary troops in 1793, Dewez fled to Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
. In the Czech capital he designed and built some private mansions for the local bourgeoisie. In 1804 he returned to Belgium. He died relatively impoverished in Groot-Bijgaarden
Dilbeek
Dilbeek is a municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. The municipality comprises the villages of Dilbeek proper, Groot-Bijgaarden, Itterbeek , Schepdaal , Sint-Martens-Bodegem, and Sint-Ulriks-Kapelle...
on 1 November 1812. His tomb stone with a brief Latin description of his life and work, can still be seen in the exterior wall of the church of Groot-Bijgaarden.
Buildings designed
- Abbey of AffligemAffligemAffligem is a municipality located some west-north-west of Brussels in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant, not far from the town of Aalst and the important railway junction of Denderleeuw....
(demolished) - Abbaye Notre-Dame d'Orval (demolished)
- Abbey of Dielegem in JetteJetteJette is one of the nineteen municipalities located in the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium.The Vrije Universiteit Brussel, the Dutch-speaking university of Brussels has built its hospital and medical campus in Jette, while its other buildings are in the so-called Etterbeek campus actually...
near BrusselsBrusselsBrussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
(partly demolished) - Abbey of Vorst
- Abbey of Vlierbeek
- Abbey of Opheylissem today HélécineHélécineHélécine is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Walloon Brabant. On 1 January 2006 Hélécine had a total population of 3,068. The total area is 16.62 km² which gives a population density of 185 inhabitants per km².-References:...
- Abbey of GemblouxAbbey of GemblouxGembloux Abbey was a Benedictine abbey near the town of Gembloux in the province of Namur, Belgium.-History:The former Benedictine monastery, located about nine miles north-west of Namur on the river Orneau, was founded about 945 by Saint Guibert or Wibert and dedicated to Saint Peter and the...
- Abbot's palace of the Abbey of TournaiTournaiTournai is a Walloon city and municipality of Belgium located 85 kilometres southwest of Brussels, on the river Scheldt, in the province of Hainaut....
, today Hôtel de VilleCity hallIn local government, a city hall, town hall or a municipal building or civic centre, is the chief administrative building of a city...
. - Abbey church of Bonne-Espérance.
- Church of HarelbekeHarelbekeHarelbeke is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Harelbeke proper and the towns of Bavikhove and Hulste. On January 1, 2006 Harelbeke had a total population of 26,172...
- Church of AndenneAndenneAndenne is a Belgian municipality located in the Walloon province of Namur. On January 1, 2006 Andenne had a total population of 25,240. The total area is 86.17 km² which gives a population density of 292 inhabitants per km². The city extends on both sides of the river Meuse...
- Château de WasseigesWasseigesWasseiges is a Walloon municipality located in the province of Liège, in Belgium. On January 1, 2006 Wasseiges had a total population of 2,517. The total area is 24.45 km² which gives a population density of 103 inhabitants per km²....
(demolished) - Château de Seneffe
- Château de MariemontMariemontMariemont may refer to:* Mariemont, California, in El Dorado County* Mariemont, Ohio, planned community in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States* Mariemont, Belgium, former hunting estate created in 1546 by Queen Mary of Hungary...
(demolished) - State Prison of VilvoordeVilvoordeVilvoorde is a Belgian municipality in the Flemish province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality comprises the city of Vilvoorde proper with its two outlying quarters of Koningslo and Houtem and the small town of Peutie...