MANSART', or MANSARD, JuLEs Henuounc, 1645-1708; b. in Paris, son of an obscure painter, who had married a sister of Francois Mansart. The uncle perceiving the. talent of the nephew and his great industry, did all in his power to advance him, and vvith, such success that the nephew, having assumed his uncle's name, soon became the most famous of the two; and being also a skillful courtier secured Louis XIV. for patron, and entered upon the construction of some of his most splendid works. The chateau de Clagny was his first work. The next was a chateau for Mme. de 3Iontespan at Ver sailles. The extravagance and rage for palace building which possessed the king was turned to the greatest advantage by Mansart, both as an artist and a man of business. He accumulated an immense fortune, and was covered with dignities and honors. His pride, vanity, and envy soon made him the object of opposition and detraction, but he made good his place in the favor of the king. His enemies accused him of using the
influence of the king's mistresses, and of making plain faults in his plans so that, the king seeing them instantly, he could turn the fact to compliment him on the remarkable quickness of his eye and justice of his taste with an air that made the king the dupe of his cunning. He was the architect of many noted chateaux before engaging in 160 upon the palace of Versailles, which, monstrous as was its expense, has' never been con sidered proportionately beautiful. The grand Trianon was his work; but his most per fect design is the dome of the church of the Invalides in Paris, which, though inferior to very many domes in size, surpasses all in the exquisite proportions of its exterior lines. The place Vendiime and the place des Victoires in Paris are also by Mansart.