MANSART, François, a celebrated French architect, descended from a family originally Italian, was born at Paris in 1598. He was instructed in the principles of his art by his uncle, Germain Gautier, architect to the king, and first became known by his construction of several châteaux and hôtels. In 1632 he contributed the plan of the Église des Filles Sainte Marie. Not long afterwards Anne of Austria, the mother of Louis XIV., employed him to construct the Val de Grâce. After the structure had been partially erected, however, Mansart proposed to re-commence it on a new plan; but as this step met with the disapproval of the queen-mother, the completion of the edifice passed into other hands. The instability of purpose from which this slight arose became the besetting infirmity of Mansart, and afterwards prevented him from being entrusted with the buildings of the Louvre. Two of his masterpieces were the Église des Dames de Sainte Marie de Chaillot, and the Château de Maisons near St Germain-en-Laye. His last work was the façade of Église des Minimes in the Place Royale. He died at Paris in 1666. To him we owe the curb roof, which, after the name of its inventor, is still called a mansart.