Paul Abadie

Paul Abadie

Basilique du Sacré-Cœur

Paul Abadie (10 December 1812 – 2 August 1884) was a French architect and building restorer.

Biography

Abadie worked on the restoration of Notre-Dame de Paris, Église Sainte-Croix of Bordeaux, Saint-Pierre of Angoulême and Saint-Front of Périgueux. He won the competition to design the Basilica of the Sacré Cœur on Montmartre in Paris, and saw construction commence on it, though he died long before its completion in 1914.

Paul Abadie (Jr.) was born on 12 December 1812 in Paris, France. The son of Paul Abadie, who was also an architect in France. He entered the School of Fine Arts (École des Beaux-Arts) in 1835; under the direction of the Monsieur Achille Leclère. Abadie was known to be interested in the restoration of medieval monuments and buildings; namely the Church of S. Front and the Cathedral of Angoulême. He also designed the Hotel de Ville at Angoulême. In 1874 he replaced Viollet-de-Duc as architect of Notre Dame. Abadie began the Basilica, but died during construction, on 2 August 1884.

The work of Paul Abadie is no longer much appreciated by academics as he was fanciful, destroyed much Romanesque heritage, and had no compunction about adding whimsical sculptures of his own manufacture on capitals and corbels. In particular, his transformations of Périgueux and Angoulême Cathedrals are deplored by local residents. An example of his wilful implantations of false Romanesque sculpture is to be found in the clover-leaf church of St Michel d'Entraygues near Angoulême. Here, he has introduced a capital featuring a triple-headed Green Man with horns and a diabolical expression. Despite its intriguing shape – this small church has no connection with the Templars, but was built to receive pilgrims on the way to Compostela.