The church was built as part of a royal abbey by Anne of Austria, the Queen of France, to celebrate the birth of her son, Louis XIV in 1638.

Construction began in 1645 under the direction of architect François Mansart and was completed in 1665 by Gabriel Le Duc.

At the beginning of the 16th century it was purchased by the Connetable of Bourbon, who built a small chateau there, which took the name Hotel de Petit-Bourbon.

In 1621 Queen Anne of Austria, nineteen years old, who had been married to King Louis XIII at age 13, purchased the estate and the chateau, with the intention of finding a sanctuary away from the noise and intrigues of the royal residence in the Louvre Palace.

[4][3] The project advanced slowly, because Anne had fallen from the favour of King Louis XIII, largely because she had not given him an heir.

In gratitude for his birth, Anne pressed forward with the construction of an entirely rebuilt church and monastery, "to spare no expense and to leave an eternal mark of her piety."

The royal symbols were effaced, but the abbey was spared the fate of several nearby convents, such as those of the Ursulines and the Feuillantines, which were demolished.

The two-story facade, with its double stages of twin columns supporting a pediment and flanking consoles, recalls church elevations from the first part of the 17th century, such as the Église des Feuillants [fr] also designed by Mansart in 1623-24.

More clear and sober than the Mannerists, Mansart's facade squares his façade with linked vertical lines using the columns and entablatures.

The dome was the work of the royal architect Jacques Lemercier, who took over the project after Mansart refused to carry out major modifications to his own design.

Lemercier had designed the Pavillon de l'Horloge at the Louvre Palace, as well as the residence of Cardinal Richelieu at the Palais Royal.

It was modelled after the dome of Saint-Peter's Basilica in Rome and was covered with lead with decos, which contain decorative gilded bands.

[5] The interior of the church is full of light, and decorated with a harmonious combination of French classicism and Italian Baroque elements.

Its decoration was influenced by St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, particularly the baldaquin designed by Italian Baroque architect and sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

[2] Rows of classical columns with Corinthian capitals form the arcades with rounded arches on either side of the nave.

The sculpture on the spandrels depicts the theological virtues, while the vaults display busts of Joseph and Mary and other saints.

[6] A copy of the Val-de-Grâce baldaquin is found in the Church of Saint-François de Sales in Neuville, Quebec.

The original of this work wa made by Michel Anguier in the 17th century to celebrate the birth of Louis XIV and is now in the church of Saint-Roch, Paris.

[6] The interior of the dome displays the best-known work of art in the church; a fresco painted in fourteen months by Pierre Mignard (1612-1695).

The chapel of the Holy Sacrament is decorated with four medallions by the sculptor Anguier, as well as a painting Christ Giving Communion to the Angels by Jean-Baptiste de Champaigne.