LE ROUX, Jacques

French architect. In 1489 he signed a contract with the abbot of La Trinité, Fécamp, to construct the axial Lady ChapelGLOSSARYin English churches, a chapel dedicated to the Virgin.. In 1496 he replaced Guillaume Pontis (active 1443-1497) as master of the Works at Rouen CathedralGLOSSARYThe principal church of a province or diocese, where the throne of the bishop is placed. For reasons lost to time and tradition, a cathedral always faces west - toward the setting sun. The altar is placed at the east end. The main body, or nave, of the cathedral is usually divided into one main and two side aisles. These lead up to the north and south transepts, or arms of the cross, the shape in which a cathedral is usually formed.. For the next ten year he was occupied with finishing the south-west tower, the Tour de Beurre, begun by Pontis in 1487. Owing to lack of money and to the cathedral chapter's indecisiveness over the nature of the termination, work progressed slowly and the octagonal crown of the tower was not completed until 1507.

Jacques's name is associated with other FlamboyantGLOSSARYstyle flamboyant (French), the last major style of French Gothic architecture, so called because of its highly elaborate "flame-like" tracery. It followed the Rayonnant. work in Rouen