JEAN DESCHAMPS
(fl. 13th c.). From the inscription on a memorial, we learn that Jean Deschamps began the
cathedral of Clermont-Ferrand in 1248 and was buried with his wife, Marie, and their
children outside the north portal of the church. Further, Jean Deschamps was hired in
1286 as the head master (le premier maistre) of the workshop of Narbonne cathedral,
where he labored until 1295. However, based on careful analysis of these edifices, it
appears likely that the two texts refer to different, but possibly related, masters.
Jean Deschamps of Clermont may also have been the designer of the choir of the
cathedral of Limoges (begun ca. 1265–70). His architecture, connected closely to such
major projects in and near Paris in the 1230s and 1240s as the nave chapels of Notre-
Dame and the new work at Saint-Denis, combined brittle grids of tracery with
undecorated wall surfaces to produce buildings of restrained elegance. Jean Deschamps’s
activity at Narbonne, confined to the chapels of the north aisle and the transept, lacks a
clear “personality,” but the approach to pier and tracery design does not reveal close ties
to Clermont.
Michael T.Davis
[See also: CLERMONT-FERRAND; GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE; LIMOGES;
NARBONNE; PARIS; SAINT-DENIS]
Branner, Robert. Saint Louis and the Court Style in Gothic Architecture. London: Zwemmer, 1965.
Davis, Michael. “The Choir of the Cathedral of ClermontFerrand: The Beginning of Construction
and the Work of Jean Deschamps.” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians
40(1981):181–202.
——. “Le chœur de la cathédrale de Limoges: tradition rayonnante et innovation dans la carrière de
Jean des Champs.” Bulletin archéologique du Comité des Travaux Historiques et Scientifiques
n.s. 22(1989):51–114.
Freigang, Christian. “Jean Deschamps et le Midi.” Bulletin monumental 149(1991):265–98.
Ranquet, Henri du. “Les architectes de la cathédrale de ClermontFerrand.” Bulletin monumental
76(1912):70–124.
JEAN D’ORBAIS
(fl. late 12th-early 13th c.). To Jean d’Orbais has often been attributed the design of
Reims cathedral, begun in 1211, where he served as master mason for approximately a
decade. One version of the labyrinth inscriptions declared that he began the choir
(encommencea la coiffe) of the cathedral, and the sketch of his image may show him in
the process of laying out the groundplan of the hemicycle. If Jean was the first cathedral
master, his architecture can be appreciated as a brilliant blend of tradition and innovation.
His plan and features of his elevation, such as the linkage of triforium and clerestory,
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