Eugène Viollet-le-Duc
Today January 27, 2014 Google chose “Eugène Viollet-le-Duc” to be featured on some of its Google Search Engines around the world. Usually Google Doodles are International and displayed on all their search engines homepages across the world, or just country specific showing in a specific county only.
Today’s Google Doodle about Eugène Viollet-le-Duc is however only in some Search Engines and not all. We have so far seen it appearing in the USA, UK, South Africa, Argentina, Columbia, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Singapore and Canada. Currently we can only guess why the doodle is not being displayed in countries like Australia, New Zealand and India to name a few.
Who was Eugène Viollet-le-Duc?
He was Born in France on the 27th of January 1814 in Paris, and died on the 17th of September 1879 at the age of 65 in Lausanne, Switzerland. Eugène Viollet-le-Duc was a French Architect and Theorist most famous for his architectural restorations and medieval buildings. Eugène Viollet-le-Duc was a big fan of Gothic Architecture and is credit for bringing it back to life and it’s revival in the mid 1800’s.
Eugène Viollet-le-Duc and the Statue of Liberty
One of the easiest ways to tell someone who Eugène Viollet-le-Duc was is to refer to some of his work. As usual some artists are better known for what they have done and their work, than simply just referring to their name. Eugène Viollet-le-Duc was responsible for the design of the internal structure of the Statue of Liberty. However he died before being able to complete his work on the Statue of Liberty.
Eugène Viollet-le-Duc the Architect
Another one of Eugène Viollet-le-Duc famous restoration works included the Notre Dame where he did some restoring but also added a third tower to the building to bring it up to date with modern needs.
- Basilica of St. Mary Magdalene in Vézelay
- St. Martin in Clamecy
- Notre-Dame in Paris
- Sainte-Chapelle in Paris (under Félix Duban)
- Basilica of St. Denis near Paris
- St. Louis in Poissy
- Notre-Dame in Semur-en-Auxois
- Basilica of St. Nazarius and St. Celsus in Carcasonne
- Basilica of St. Sernin in Toulouse
- Notre-Dame in Lausanne (Switzerland)
Eugène Viollet-le-Duc the Castle Google Doodle
Eugène Viollet-le-Duc was one of the most famous restorers of castles and to sum up who Eugène Viollet-le-Duc was it makes perfectly sense that the doodler picked a castle to represent his work.
Some of his other projects included the restoration of Castles, below is a list of some of the castles Eugène Viollet-le-Duc helped updating and restoring to its former glory:
- Château de Roquetaillade, in Bordeaux
- Château de Pierrefonds
- Fortified city of Carcassonne
- Château de Coucy
- Antoing in Belgium
- Château de Vincennes, Paris
Eugène Viollet-le-Duc History
Today’s History lesson about Eugène Viollet-le-Duc may seem insignificant and out of context by many reading about him, however if you are an Artist, Architect, Historian of planning to visit one of the many great historical building that Eugène Viollet-le-Duc was part of restoring the information will make sense and provide you with some valuable insight in the life and legacy of Eugène Viollet-le-Duc and the work he has been involved with!
