LEBSERGISR
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LEMEBGISR
at Ossoflsan^ until 1642, at Ste-Marie I until 1649, and
finally at 8te-Mahe II, on St. Joseph's Island, from
16 June, 1649. He left Huronia only after the laying
waste of the country by the Iroquois, and the complete
abandonment of the mission, subsequent to their
inroads, on 10 June, 1650.
(>n his return to Quebec he was engaged in the ministry there and at Three Rivers until 165:^, when he was appointed rector of the college and superior of the whole Canada mission, a post he occupied until
1656. But while yet in office, on 1 1 May of the latter year, not willing to expose the lives of others to perils he was not ready to face, he named Father J6r6me Lalemant vice-superior, so as to l)c himself free to head a tentative missionary expedition, fraught wi^h danger, to the Onondagas. Wnile on his way to this fierce Iroquois nation he wrote from Montreal on 6 June, 1656. to his provincial in P^rance a letter setting forth vivialy the oifficulties of the undertaking (see "Relation, 1657", Quebec ed., 50-54). On 1 June,
1657, he was back at Quebec, but started to return on 27 June. He could not have proceeded far when he was recalled, for the "Jesuits' Journal" mentions his saying the Christmas midnight Mass for the Hurons at the Quel^ec hospital. From 1659 to 1660, though in charge of the parish with Father Dablon, he h£i also to attend the outlying mission at Beaupr^. He was formally named assistant parish priest, 21 October, 1660, by Mgr de Petr^, the first Bishop of Quebec, who had arrived in June of the previous year. On 6 August, 1665, for the second time, he was pro- moted to the office of rector and superior of the whole Canada Mission, and continuely from 1G07 to 1613, and, while in Rome, probably engraved a model of St. Peter's. As early as 1618 he appears as royal architect with a salary of 1200 livres. In 1639 he became chief architect, m which capacity, having the supervision of all the royal building enterprises, he fell into a disagreeable dispute with the cultivated Poussin about the decorations in the Louvre. In general, he is considered a well-meaning, discreet char- acter, living entirely for his art, he thought very
little of his profit, and, in spite of the great works
which he executed, it was found necessary after his
death to sell his entire large library to cover his debts.
He was highly extolled as the exponent of the classic
tendenci^ of Palladio. Richelieu, in particular, en-
trusted him with a series of important works. As yet
Lescot's plan for the Louvre had been scarcely half
finished. The cardinal, an enthusiastic patron of
architecture, placed Lemercier at the head of this
undertaking in 1624. In carrying on the work begun
by Lescot, Lemercier subordinatwi himself to the Tat-
ter's style and design, but he followed his own ide««
in his more substantial plan and in quadrupling the
building area, eacli of the four sides having a pavilion
at its centre. In this manner he built the northern
half of the west side — the celebrated Pavilion de
THorloge — ^and the western part of the north side.
It is, however, an exaggerated opinion to regard the
Pavilion de i'Horloge as the best example of French
architecture.
After 1627, in Richelieu's personal service, Lemer- cier built the Chateau de Richelieu in Poitou and the f)arish church of the same town, in which he displayed lis talents to splendid advantage. The castle was worthy of a king. In addition, he began the Palais- Cardinal at Paris in 1629, which, after its donation to the king, was known as the Palais Royal. He was likewise entrusted with the subse(]uent extension of this building, of which there remains at present only an interior wing. It is wanting in lightness and pro- portion in the disposal of its masses. The master earned great and well-merited renown by his work on the Sorbonne which was begun at the same time. The collie and the church are both his work. The latter is noteworthy for its domical shape in the stvle of the Italian Renaissance (like Val-do-Gr4ce an^ the In- valides of the two Mansarts). In France, contrary to the Italian custom, the exterior dome was made of wood, which was less monumental, though about the same in appearance. Lemercier inaugurated this economical method in his claustral dome over the Pavilion de I'Horlc^e. The dome presents a har- monious effect. It is a complete hemisphere, with four small cupolas in the Greek cross above the two orders of columns on the fa<?ade. The interior also makes a better effect than Mansart's dome of the In- valides, and was formerly intended to be beautifully decorated. The square interf?ection is surrounded by cylindrical vaults and a semicircular choir apse. The north side consists of a portico in classic style. The whole may be considerea one of the finest buildings of that time.
I-»emercier produced a similar result with his work on the ablxjy church of Val-de-Cirdce, which he took up as the successor of Father Mansart. The latter had refused to execute an order requiring a change in the design, whereupon the principal part as far as the en- tablature appears to have l)een carried on by Lemer- cier and finished by other masters. The foundation of the church and royal abbey was determined upon at the birth of Louis XIV, and Louis himself, when six years of age (1645), laid the cornerstone. Here too the different orders of columns harmonize l)eauti fully with the principal dome and the four smaller domes and their tambour. The front view is truly magnifi- cent. In the details of execution a noble taste, as well as great care, is evident. In 16.S5 Richelieu once again claim(Kl the services of Lemercier for work on the Chateau de Rueil, near Paris, which he had ac- quired at that time. The artist's great patron was buried in the church of the Sorlxjnne in 1642. Le- mercier continued to enjov the favour of the court and the pul)lic. In 1645 lie received as first of the royal architects a salary of 3000 livres. His last work was the plan of the church of St. Roch in Paris. He completed only the choir and part of the nave. A few unimportant earher works, which are not unanir
