Church of Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis: Overall view of facade

The church was originally named Saint-Louis, but after the neighboring Saint-Paul church was destroyed, the name Saint-Paul was added. In plans for Saint-Louis Derand [Durand] found himself in competition with Etienne Martellange (both Jesuit priests as well as architects). Both sets of plans were submitted to Rome; those by Martellange were preferred, and he began work on the church in 1627. Two years later, however, the Father Provincial brought in Derand, who found the building erected to a height of two metres. He finished it in 1641, including the vaults and the great fa\u00E7ade on the Rue Saint-Antoine, the first stone of which was laid in 1634. Derand's style is very different from the architectural propriety sought by Martellange: it is Baroque in its expressiveness. The fa\u00E7ade of St Paul-St Louis, visibly inspired by that of St Gervais by Salomon de Brosse (1616), is a great stone screen.