Auguste-Henri-Victor Grandjean de Montigny
| Auguste-Henri-Victor Grandjean de Montigny | |
|---|---|
Portrait of Grandjean de Montigny by Augusto Muller (1815 - circa 1883
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| Born |
15 July 1776 Paris, France |
| Died | 2 March 1850 (aged 73) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| Nationality | French, Brazilian |
| Occupation | Architect |
| Known for | Classical buildings in Rio de Janeiro |
Auguste-Henri-Victor Grandjean de Montigny (15 July 1776 – 2 March 1850) was a French architect who had considerable influence on the development of architecture in Brazil.
Auguste-Henri-Victor Grandjean de Montigny was born on 15 July 1776 in the parish of St-Merry in Paris. He studied architecture with Charles Percier and Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine, and became a neo-classicist. He won the Prix de Rome in 1799. In 1802 he went to Rome with the new director of the French school, and was responsible for the work needed to prepare the Villa Medici for students. In 1810 he was appointed architect to Jérôme Bonaparte, King of Westphalia. He rebuilt the state rooms of the Bellevue Palace in Kassel, a triumphal gate, public fountains and the theatre. He was named first architect of the king in 1812. He returned to France in 1814 when Napoleon was deposed.
Grandjean de Montigny refused an offer from Russia in favor of one to go to Brazil. He moved to Brazil in 1816 at the invitation of King John VI of Portugal (1816–26), who wanted to improve the cultural level of the colony. He arrived in Rio de Janeiro on 12 March 1816. He represented architecture among the French artistic colony organized and led by Joachim Lebreton, who created the Academy of Fine Arts in Rio. These artists had been educated at the École des Beaux-Arts and had been forced into exile after the fall of Napoleon. Other members of the group included the two brothers Nicolas-Antoine Taunay, painter of battle scenes, and Auguste Taunay, sculptor; Jean-Baptiste Debret, painter, and Charles-Simon Pradier, engraver.
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