Lauritz de Thurah
| Lauritz de Thurah | |
|---|---|
Laurids de Thurah painted in 1754
by Johan Hörner |
|
| Born |
4 March 1706 Mariager, Denmark |
| Died | 5 September 1759 (aged 53) Copenhagen, Denmark |
| Nationality | Danish |
| Occupation | Architect |
| Buildings | Spire of Church of Our Saviour Eremitage Palace Gammel Holtegård |
Laurids Lauridsen de Thurah, known as Lauritz de Thurah (4 March 1706 – 5 September 1759), was a Danish architect and architectural writer. He became the most important Danish architect of the late baroque period. As an architectural writer and historian he made a priceless contribution to the understanding of both Denmark's architectural heritage and building construction in his day.
de Thurah was a self-taught architect who learned much of what he knew by studying the inspiring buildings he saw on his travels outside Denmark between 1729 and 1731. He brought home the baroque style, which was then popular, but was quickly losing way to rococo. Throughout his life he maintained a loyalty to the baroque, even as the world around him continued to change and he lost work assignments to others who mastered the newer, more popular styles.
Lauritx de Thurah was born Laurids Lauridsen Thura in Aarhus, the third son of parish priest Laurids Thura, later Bishop of Ribe, and wife Helene Cathrine de With. He was educated at home by the elder Thura, a literate scholar and able teacher. By chance he come into contact with the royal house when King Frederik IV called on the Bishop, and chose the boy and his older brother Didrich for military service. In 1719 he went to Copenhagen as a military cadet, a landkadet in Danish, to receive an education for the Engineer Corps at the Military Cadet Academy (Landkadetakademiet).
He was employed in 1725 as Assistant Resident Engineer in the Holstein Engineering Corps, and he moved to Rendsburg where he served from 1725-1729.
With an interest in improving his lot in life by eventually coming into an architectural career, he enthusiastically studied the local building style, and petitioned the king for a royal grant to study civil architecture on a longer travel to foreign lands. In order to attain this he made carefully detailed drawings of Rendsburg's fortifications, churches and houses, and a preliminary construction drawing for a suspension bridge.
The king was impressed, and promised to give him funds, but instead he gave Thura and his friend Lieutenant Holger Rosenkrantz additional surveying and drawing assignments. Finally Thura, after having sent the king many reminders to his promised financial assistance, went to Copenhagen and was put to a final test, before receiving the economic grant so he and Rosenkrantz could travel.
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