Born in Nancy, Mique began his career at Versailles as former chief architect to king Stanislas Leszczynski, duc de Lorraine and father of Marie Leszczynska. The queen took him into her service on the death of Stanislas in 1766. She commissioned to build a convent for girls in Versailles (the present Lyce Hoche). The architect built in its centre a splendid neo-classical chapel, an expression of his taste for the architecture of Palladio.

Marie-Antoinette then took him into her service in memory of their shared origins in Lorraine. He agreed to satisfy all her caprices. At Versailles, Mique began in 1775 the refurbishment of her inner apartment (cabinet de la Mridienne, library, inner study, billiards room, etc.) which went through several drafts as the queens tastes evolved. In 1782, he installed on the ground floor facing the marble courtyard a new and more discreet apartment to replace that of Mme Sophie, daughter of Louis XV. In the grand apartment, he designed the salon of the Nobles in the neo-classical style, not hesitating to mask the Louis XIV decor by a white ceiling with a cornice. He annexed to the apartment the salon of Peace which became the queens gaming room.

At Trianon, the domain of Marie-Antoinette par excellence, all her fantasies were given free rein: construction of a small theatre for the queen and her friends; a belvedere to rest in; a hamlet like that of the Prince de Cond at Chantilly but even larger, for her pastoral activities. Here Mique laid out an English-style garden on the advice of the painter Hubert Robert and the botanist Claude Richard. An artificial cave, a temple of Eros, an artificial lake and river enlivened this picturesque setting designed to express Rousseaus taste for nature.

Mique built on the hill of Saint-Cloud, when this estate was given by Louis XVI to the queen, a hospital for her charitable work. Rebuilt since then, only the chapel remains. The chapel of the Carmel of Saint-Denis for Mme Louise, the religious daughter of Louis XV, is another famous achievement of the architect. A zealous servitor of Marie-Antoinette, Mique was guillotined in Paris in 1794.

Taken from the Chateau de Versailles Website: http://en.chateauversailles.fr/history/versailles-during-the-centuries/the-palace-construction/richard-mique-1728-1794

List of his works:

• 1762: His first known design, for a kiosk in the gardens of Lunville .
• 1763-64 Two gates for the city of Nancy: the Porte Sainte-Catherine and the Porte Stanislas already show the neoclassical taste..
• 1765: Plans for the Sainte-Catherine barracks at Nancy .
• 1767-72: Buildings for an Ursuline convent in the town of Versailles for Maria Leszczyska . The convent now houses the Lyce Hoche. Mique's first two plans were rejected. The third executed design is similar to Jacques-Germain Soufflot 's Church of Sainte-Genevive in Paris .
• 1775-84: All the structures, including the bridge, that form the picturesque hamlet, the Hameau de la Reine in the garden of the Petit Trianon at Versailles. Mique carried it out in its naturalistic jardin anglo-chinois probably laid out in collaboration with the painter Hubert Robert; for inspiration, he was directed to visit the Anglo-Chinese park at Ermenonville (Higonnet 2002: 29).
• 1775-85: Church of the Carmelites Basilica of Saint-Denis , for the aunt of Louis XVI, Madame Louise , who had become a nun in the convent at Saint-Denis. Madame Louise dictated in detail the subjects she wanted for the sculptural decorations. The neoclassical building, with a Corinthian portico adapted from the Roman Maison Carre at Nmes , was consecrated 28 May 1784.
• 1778-79: The private theatre of Marie Antoinette at the Petit Trianon .
• 1778-81 : The octagonal Belvedere (1778-81) ^[5] , consecrated to the Seasons, the Pavillon du Rocher and the Temple de l'Amour in the newly-informal gardens of the Petit Trianon at Versailles. The Temple of Love, visible from the Queen's bedroom, was the setting for many ftes (Higonnet 2002: 28)
• 1780: Htel de l'Intendance, Versailles
• 1780s: Chteau de Bellevue , alterations in the interior (demolished) and alterations to the park, which required 42,000 new trees and a hermitage, for Mesdames , the daughters of Louis XV.
• 1782: Consolidation of the tower at the Cathedral of Orlans (1782-1787)
• 1785: Modifications at the Chteau de Saint-Cloud for Marie Antoinette (bombed by French artillery on 13 October 1870 and razed in 1891)
• 1785: Boudoir for Marie Antoinette at the Petit Trianon .

Some Pics :

Enjoy!