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The Salon Dord from the Hotel de Clermont
Brewster, Edith Hutchinson, M.A.
The American University, 1991
Copyright ©1991 by Brewster, Edith Hutchinson. All rights reserved.
UMI 300 N. Zeeb Rd. Ann Aibor, MI 48106 mil:am=: .. __ THE SALON DORE
FROM THE HOTEL DE CLERMONT
by Edith Hutchinson Brewster
submitted to the
Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences
of the American University
in Partial Fulfillment of
the Requirements for the Degree of
Master of Arts
in
Arts Management
Signatures of Committee:
Chair: i j a j u ^ 6.
Dean of(the College IS dujuuiJ- Date *
1991
The American University 7335- Washington, D.C. 20016
THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY LIBRARY © COPYRIGHT
by EDITH HUTCHINSON BREWSTER
1991
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED THE SALON DORlS
FROM THE HOTEL DE CLERMONT
BY
Edith Hutchinson Brewster
ABSTRACT
The Corcoran Gallery of Art acquired the Salon
Dor6, an eighteenth-century French room, from William
A. Clark, a senator from Montana, in 1926 as part of a
bequest that included European art and furniture as
well. The Salon Dore originally came from the H6tel
de Clermont, located at 69 rue de Varenne in the
fashionable seventh arrondissement of the Faubourg
Saint-Germain in Paris.
Louis XVI ascended the throne in 1774, and the
Salon Dore is a conscious expression of the neo
classical style known by his name. This was the time
of the Enlightenment, when the ideals of liberty and
democracy were appealing to a large segment of public opinion both in France and in America through the writings of Diderot, Voltaire, and Rousseau. The
destinies of the two nations were becoming linked in the common cause of social renewal. The neo-classical
style chronicles the artistic response to the
Enlightenment. The Salon Dore attests to the cultural ii condition of France at the time America was emerging
in part through French encouragement. This paper examines the ornamental decor, the provenance, and the authenticity of the Salon Dore through a careful analysis of archival material, family inventories, personal interviews with curators, original photographs, and a thorough examination of the chronology of the Hotel de Clermont as seen through carefully researched monographs by three
French scholars. The conclusion reached is that although recomposed by Senator Clark, the Salon Dore nonetheless illustrates the ideals of neo-classicism.
Senator Clark succeeded in capturing an outstanding example of Louis XVI French interior architecture.
iii PREFACE
The Salon Dore came from the Hotel de Clermont, an hotel particulier located near the Church of the
Invalides on the rue de Varenne in Paris. It was designed by Alexandre LeBlond in 1708-1714 in the classical idiom of the time of J. H. Mansart. Fifty years later, in 1768, under the new ownership of the
Comte d'Orsay, a young military officer who gained fortune and became a private arts patron of unrivaled scope, the Hotel Clermont underwent a major renovation which was to last twenty years, as the count traveled repeatedly to Italy, returning with paintings and sculpture representing the beau ideal of the Ancients.
D'Orsay transformed a boudoir facing the garden into the latest fashion, incorporating the principal decorative elements of Louis XVI who ascended the throne in 1774. This sumptuous room became known as the Grand Salon, and was bought in 1904 by Senator William A. Clark and installed in his townhouse in New
York with several modifications. When he bequeathed it to the Corcoran, there were few alterations, and the room now known as the Salon Dord remains an important testament of the neo-classical style associated with the period of Louis XVI.
In the Salon Dore, architecture and history blend together to create an interesting story. Newly available archival materials, recent photographs, and personal interviews present new insights into the interpretion of the Salon Dore as it emerges from its fresh restoration.
The value of study rests in the testimony the room presents as an authentic representation of the neo-classical ideals of the time. Although not pristine, the room presents the cultural conditions of
France when Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin served as ministers in Paris. Jefferson was immensely influenced by the political symbolism of the style, and brought back to America a neo-classicism which was to portray our own republicanism. The State Capitol at Richmond of 1785 was the first neo-classical building in the World.1 "Noble simplicity" had crossed the seas, and it set the style for public buildings in this country, particularly in Washington.
1Personal interview with Dr. Theodore Turak of American University, June 13, 1991. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
It has been a pleasure and a joy to research The
Salon Dore from the Hdtel de Clermont during the past year both in Washington and in Paris. I should like to thank the individuals who so generously gave both their expertise and time to a student who professes more enthusiasm than scholarship.
I am very grateful to Dr. Theodore Turak of The
American University for his interest in the idea and for generously sharing his knowledge with me. Hugh
Newell Jacobsen, FAIA, stimulated my interest in
French architecture of the eighteenth century during his restoration of the Hdtel Talleyrand.
I am grateful to the staff at the Corcoran
Gallery, particularly to Dare Hartwell, the conservator of the Corcoran Gallery of Art, for her careful reading and useful suggestions throughout.
Others who facilitated my research include Barbara
Dawson, Cindy Rom, and Julie Solz, and also Barbara
Moore and Barbara Mateo, who first introduced me to the Salon Dore when I was a docent. Information concerning the dimensions and decorative details of artworks comes from the Registrar's office. In Paris, I was privileged to discuss the Hotel
de Clermont with Robert Carlhian, who worked on the
restoration of the interiors at the Hotel Talleyrand;
Jean Ferey, author of the magnificent Architecture
interieure et decoration en France des oriaines a
1875. Jean-Frangois Mejanes, conservateur au Cabinet
des Dessins at the Louvre; and Michel le Moel,
Conservateur General aux Archives Nationales. I am
grateful to Ambassador and Madame Emmanuel de Margerie
for their enthusiastic encouragement.
Michel Durafour, Ministre de la Fonction
Publique et des Reformes Administratives, very kindly
permitted me to photograph the Hotel de Clermont.
The Friends of Vieilles Maisons Frangaises both
in the United States and in Paris were consistently
helpful in their support and personal introductions.
I should also like to thank Marina Brachet,
President of the Washington Chapter of FVMF, and Nick
Martin of the National Gallery for their help in
translation and interpretation. TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT ii
PREFACE iv
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS vi
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS viii
Part
I. THE SALON DORfi 1
Ornamental Decor
Ceiling
Wood Panels
Overdoor Panels
Doors
Comparisons
Neo-Classical Style
Furniture of the Louis XVI Period
Furniture of the Salon Dore
Highlights From the Clark Collection
II. THE H6TEL DE CLERMONT ...... 62
Faubourg Saint-Germain Rue de Varenne
H6tel de Clermont, Architectural Style Le Jardin The Architect
H6tel de Clermont, Present Day Pre-Revolutionary History of the H6tel de Clermont
Biography of the Comte d'Orsay
D'Orsay's Early Collection
D'Orsay's Later Collection
Post-Revolutionary History of the Hotel de Clermont
Biography of Senator William A. Clark
Clark's Collection
APPENDICES ...... 172
Inventory, Revolutionary Seizure, 1793
Adjudication, Barbet de Jouy, 1841
BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 194 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Figure Page
1. The Salon Dore at the C o r c o r a n ...... 2 2. L'Hdtel de Clermont, garden fagade ...... 2
3. Map of Paris (Michelin)...... 3
4. Original floorplan, Clermont ...... 4
5. The Salon D o r e ...... 6
6. Ceiling mural by Hugues Taraval ...... 9
7. South medallion of ceiling mural ...... 9
8. Etching of Hotel de Clermont, 1898 14
9. Wall trophy, Salon D o r e ...... 15
10. Salon Dore overdoor p a n e l ...... 18
11. Salon Dore door p a n e l s ...... 20
12. Salon Dore door p a n e l s ...... 21
13. Hdtel Talleyrand door panels ...... 22
14. Hotel Talleyrand door p a n e l ...... 23
15. Hotel Talleyrand door panel ...... 24
16. Hotel Talleyrand boiserie ...... 2 6
17. Hdtel Talleyrand arabesque panel ..... 27
18. Hotel Talleyrand overdoor panel ...... 28
19. Hotel Talleyrand overdoor panel ...... 28
20. Fireplace, Hdtel Talleyrand ...... 30
21. Unrestored fireplace, Hdtel Talleyrand . . . 30
viii Figure Page
22. Standing lion, Hdtel de Clermont ...... 31
23. Recumbent lion, Hdtel Talleyrand ...... 31
24. Beauvais tapestry, Chantilly ...... 37
25. Bernard Steinitz collection...... 39
26. Bergere of Georges J a c o b ...... 40 27. Louis XVI fauteuil ...... 41
28. Louis XVI cvlindre ...... 43
29. Louis XVI ormolu-mounted commode ...... 46
30. Louis XV giltwood bergere ...... 49
31. Louis XVI ch e n e t ...... 52
32. Mantel Clock, Clark Collection ...... 52
33. The Birdcatchers. Clark Collection ...... 58
34. La Musiaue. Clark Collection ...... 58
35. Madame du Barry. Clark Collection ...... 60
36. Dome of the Church of the Invalides...... 64
37. Plan of Turgot of 1728 66
38. View, rue de V a r e n n e ...... 68
39. Musee Rodin ...... 68
40. Ministry of Agriculture...... 69
41. Hdtel de Clermont, entrance portal ...... 71
42. Hdtel de Matignon, entrance portal...... 72
43. Matignon, interior court ...... 73
44. Italian Embassy, No. 47 rue de Varenne . . . 74
45. Identification placque, Clermont ...... 77
ix Figure Page
46. Avant cour of H6tel de Clermont...... 78
47. Close-up, front elevation, Clermont ...... 79
48. Garden Fagade, south elevation, Clermont . . 79
49. Close-up Ionic pilaster, Clermont ...... 80
50. Classical balustrade, Clermont ...... 80
51. Enlarged original floor plan ...... 82
52. Floor plan sketch, 1990 ...... 83
53. Grand foyer, enlarged ...... 84
54. Granite shaft with Ionic capitals ...... 85
55. South elevation, corner ...... 86
56. Jardin anglais. Clermont ...... 86
57. Original jardin, Clermont...... 88 58. H6tel de Chdtillon by LeBlond...... 90
59. Portal, ChStillon...... 90
60. ChStillon forecourt ...... 91
61. LeBlond's Plan for St. Petersburg...... 93
62. Fagade of Peterhof by LeBlond...... 93
63. Legal consent from Louis X V ...... 95 64. Legal consent, page 2 ...... 96
65. Abovedoor panel in Clermont...... 98
66. Clermont's doors with floral panels ...... 99
67. Corinthian pilasters from Clermont .... 100
68. Door leading into central galeria...... 101
x Figure Page
69. Fireplace in original corner salon .... 102
70. Present ceiling mural in corner salon . . . 102
71. Redecorated central galeria...... 104
72. Floor from central galeria of 1838 .... 105
73. Fireplace of central galeria ...... 106
74. Fireback of central galeria ...... 106
75. Louis XIV d o o r s ...... 108
76. Close-up of monogram ...... 109
77. Two fluted Ionic c o l u m n s ...... 110
78. Arabesque cornice of 1838 ...... Ill
79. Bronze rail of s t a i r w e l l ...... 113
80. Bronze rail of stairwell l a n d i n g ...... 113
81. Overdoor panel on wood, second floor . . . 115
82. Original fireplace, second floor ...... 115 83. Mural over the stairway...... 116
84. Garden fagade, south elevation ...... 116
85. Arms of Marquise Clermont-Saissic...... 119
86. Le Comte d'Orsay, p a s t e l ...... 127
87. Arabesque panel, Hotel Talleyrand ...... 130
88. Secretaire a cvlindre of D ' O r s a y ...... 132
89. Personal monogram stamp of D'Orsay .... 133
90. Keyhead to secretaire...... 134
91. Mausoleum designed for Clermont ...... 136
92. Legal document of granite columns ...... 141
xi Figure Page
93. Inventory from Revolutionary seizure . . . 147
94. Subleyras' Draped Figure ...... 157
95. Carle Van Loo's Fantasy Figure ...... 159
96. Clark mansion, New York C i t y ...... 167
xii PART I.
THE SALON DORlS
In 1926 Senator William A. Clark bequeathed the
Salon Dore to the Corcoran Gallery of Art. (See
Figure 1.) It was originally a chambre a coucher on the ground floor facing the garden in the Hdtel de
Clermont. (See Figure 2.) The name of the hotel stems from the surname of the first owner, the
Marquise de Clermont-Saissac, a widow, who built the hotel near the Church of the Invalides on the rue de
Varenne in the Faubourg Saint-Germain in Paris. (See
Figure 3.)
The dimensions of the room are approximately 44'
11" x 24' 10";2 it was situated to the left of the central grand salon of the Hotel de Clermont on the garden fagade, and it served as an intimate sitting room. A doorway connected the two rooms, but one could also enter the room directly through an antechamber from the vestibule. (See Figure 4.)
Registrar's Office, Corcoran Gallery of Art.
1 Figure 1. The Salon Dore at the Corcoran Gallery of Art. West elevation.
P UP tip
Figure 2. L 1Hdtel de Clermont, garden fagade. Figure 3. Map of Paris illustrating location of the Hotel de Clermont (Michelin). ifmitm
|«U**v4 <• J*iU •4U*#fp
rrur
Figure 4. Original floorplan of the Hdtel de Clermont. The room received a major renovation in 1768 under the dictates of new ownership.3 This was the
time of Louis XVI, when the neo-classical style
expressed the ideals and spirit of the Enlightenment
in France. Although it received other restorations in
1838 and after Senator Clark purchased it, the room as
stands is essentially representative of the changes made by Pierre-Gaspard-Marie Grimod, Count D'Orsay, during the twenty-year period that preceded the
Revolution. (See Figure 5.)
Ornamental Decor
A tall mirror occupies the focal point of the longitudinal axis. It is flanked by two Corinthian pilasters on plinths. These pilasters, numbering twenty-eight in all, are carved in wood and gilded.
They are repeated at regular intervals around the room, establishing a symmetrically balanced ordering of space. Wood panels embrace the entire room. The wood is most likely oak, as it was for most royal commissions, and it is painted a soft gray color.
Three arched floor-to-ceiling window openings (French doors) on the south are balanced by three door
3Michel le Moel, Christian Baulez, and Jean- Frangois MejanSs, French scholars who have reconstructed the chain of successive ownerships, agree that the records confirm a major change occurred in 1768 under the Comte d'Orsay. 6
Figure 5. The Salon Dore. openings on the north, two sets of floral paneled
doors and a pair of mirrored doors in the middle. At
the focal point, a Louis XVI fireplace with a straight
mantel and curved sides supports a tall mirror. The
mirror, inset by a simple gilt frame with a carved
swag, was a popular decorative device used to extend
space and light.
The pilasters are joined by an elaborate
cornice, gilded moldings, six trophy panels, four pair
of doors with floral medallions, and five overdoor plaster bas-relief panels with putti supporting oval gilded wreathes. A geometrically ordered parquet
floor is composed of woods of different colors. On the ceiling, five cupids carry floral garlands cross the sky while other cupids hover nearby. The dynamic
interdependence of all classical decorative motifs work with the architecture to establish a Louis XVI theme, although the King did not ascend to the throne until 1774. The rhythmical succession of pilasters, the axial symmetry, and beribboned mirrors represent an evolution of taste now known as the Transitional period, which marked the beginning of the neo classical style; the ornamental excesses of the rococo were thinning out, and curvilinear designs were being replaced by straight lines of the "Greek taste." 8 Ceiling
The ceiling mural was painted by Hugues Taraval
about 1773.4 (See Figure 6.) At the center five putti are carrying garlands of flowers across the sky.
Along the border of each side, the artist has painted
figure allegories of seasons and the arts in grisaille
(decorative painting in gray monochrome) medallions.
(See Figure 7.) Representations of the seasons have historically been quite similar from classical times to the present: spring is seen as a young woman holding flowers, summer has shafts of wheat, autumn has grape leaves, and winter is an old man dressed for the cold. Here, the idealized partially clad women figures are seated on low balconies with their drapery overhanging, and they support cameo-like medallions within egg and dart borders. In the west medallion, over the fireplace, two baccanals support a dancing nymph while Pan, the god of flocks and pastures, plays his pipes. The north medallion represents fall; a snake winds his way up the sacrificial table. The east medallion represents summer's bounty with the figures seated on low balconies on shafts of wheat.
The last medallion represent the arts; the idealized figure on the left has a mallet in one hand and a
information on the ceiling mural was kindly given to me by Dare Hartwell, Conservator, the Corcoran Gallery of Art. 9
Figure 6. Ceiling mural by Hugues Taraval.
Figure 7. South medallion of ceiling mural. 10 chisel in the other, while her counterpart holds forth a sculptured head.5 The symbolism within the medallions is less clear, but they have no obvious reference to the seasons or the arts. The ceiling mural was not part of the original corner chambre in the Hdtel de Clermont; two sources6 cite that it came from the central grand salon adjacent to the original chambre, which most nearly approximates its 45' length. The chambre measured 32' 2" x 22' 10";7
Senator Clark extended his Salon Dore to accommodate the 45 x 25 foot ceiling mural. He also changed the axial direction of the Salon Dore; two windows originally opened onto the garden on the longitudinal axis with the fireplace on the left end wall. The original ceiling of this chambre was sold and transferred to the Hdtel Viel-Picard8 and destroyed about the same time as Les Hailes in 1970. The painting from the central grand salon was done on
5Ibid.
6Christian Baulez, Rue de Varenne. p. 67, and Michel le Moel, "L'Hdtel de Clermont." Along with Jean-Frangois Mejanes' Les Collections de Comte d 7Orsav published by the Louvre, these are the three major studies in French on the Hotel de Clermont.
7Room dimensions were measured by the author, October, 1990.
8Christian Baulez, Rue de Varenne. p. 67. 11 canvas, and it represented the Apotheosis of Psyche.9
Taraval had shown sketches of the mural at the Salon
of 1773. The theme of Psyche was a familiar classical
theme of the elusive Psyche who was so beautiful she was beloved even by Cupid, who visited her at night, while forbidding her to seek his identity. Hugues Taraval (1728-1785) won many commissions as a muralist and history painter. He was the son of a portrait painter to the king of Sweden and moved to
Paris where he studied at the Royal Academy. He won the first Prix de Rome in 1759, and returned to Paris in 1763. Four years later, in 1767, he was commissioned by the daughter of Louis XV to work on the Palais Royal. He became a member of the Academy in 1769. Later, he decorated the chapel of the fScole
Militaire,10 the chapel at Fontainebleau, and the
Gallery of Apollo at the Louvre.11
Diderot is said to have objected to Taraval's oeuvre as being too old-fashioned.12 However, the
9The title of the ceiling, Apotheosis of Psyche. is cited by both Champeaux in 1898 and C. Boulez in 1981.
10Michel le Moel, "H6tel de Clermont" (Pamphlet).
■^Cyclopedia of Painters and Paintings, p. 253.
12Jean-Frangois Mejanes, Les Collections de Comte d'Orsav. p. 18. 12 taste for decorative ceiling murals extended beyond the rococo period far into Louis XVI's time.13 Le Brun had brought historical painting to brilliant success at Versailles. During the rococo, the wall and ceiling were fused. With neo-classicism, putti still carried off garlands to heaven to lengthen the vista, but it was not part of the overall iconographic scheme. The murals were accomplished by the best painters of the period, and popular subjects in the eighteenth century included mythological, historical, and fantastical allegories.
Wood Panels
The walls are lined with carved boiserie, panels carved in shallow relief and gilded, which were the essential element of Louis XVI period rooms. The gilding was accomplished by adding coats of gesso
(chalk and glue) to the carved wood surface. The gesso was again recarved with specialized tools before layers of gold leaf was applied.14 Gilding was used to brighten the rooms under the gray skies of France.
Trophy wall panels were part of the original decorative pattern. In the Corcoran's Salon Dore
13Michel Gallet, Paris Domestic Architecture, p. 134.
14Wall label by Dare Hartwell, Conservator, the Corcoran Gallery of Art. 13 there are six trophy panels. The original room in the
Hotel de Clermont contained only four,15 although today there are five. The original trophies were drawn by Champeaux in 1898 in a line etching which portrays some of the existing decorative elements and their arrangement. (See Figure 8.) The Salon Dore has the original trophies, although the one photographed (see Figure 9) is not the one illustrated in the 1898 line drawing.
The trophies are about twelve feet in height and consist of hand-carved ornaments superimposed on top of one another to form or emblem of an interest or theme, such as martial arts, sports, or music. The panels attest to the eighteenth-century love of art and music and science, as well as the particular achievement and status of the patron, and were most evident in neo-classical interiors of the Enlightenment.
The six themes of the trophies in the Salon Dore include: 1. peasant life, indicated by cornucopia, love birds, and a hat with flowers; 2. theatre arts with a drum, lyre, and various props; 3. sports with racquet, gauntlet, and saddle; 4. arms and armaments with arrows, quiver, and shield; 5. music including flute, pipe, and horn; and 6. science and exploration
15Baulez, p. 67, and Champeaux, p. 125, both cite four trophy panels. 14
(ltJ-'Uj
Figure 8. Etching of H6tel de Clermont's salon made in 1898 by Champeaux. 15
Figure 9. Wall trophy on the theme of inventions. Salon Dor§. 16
with compass, protractor, and a long glass. At the
top of this trophy there is an artist's palette with paint brushes, perhaps indicating the tools of the
cartographer.16 All or some of these wood panels,
elaborately decorated with shallow relief carvings,
are thought to have been carved by Elie Janel.17
Cornice
A heavy cornice was part of the neo-classical vocabulary. The Salon Dore has an acanthus leaf border below a row of modillion blocks, which lends an air of grandeur to the room while proclaiming it as the croQt qrecaue. The cornice and ornamental moldings of the original corner salon in the Hotel de Clermont were carved in wood and gilded with gold leaf.18 The present appearance probably reflects its original appearance. The Salon Dor6 is supported only by the fluted Corinthian columns which are linked by gilded swags.
16This information was kindly supplied to me by Dare Hartwell of the Conservation Department, Corcoran Gallery of Art.
17Ibid.
18Baulez. p. 67. 17
Overdoor Panels
The decorative overdoor panels show putti
supporting female muses within gilded medallions.
(See Figure 10.) The artists generally followed
designs drawn by the architect. It is now known that
J. F. T. Chalgrin was the supervising architect.19
He studied in Rome from 1757-63, and very likely these
designs were made from copies he made from Antique
works he saw there. Each medallion has symbolic significance.
Doors
There are four pair of doors placed at regular
intervals in the Salon Dore, each with two leaves
which contain bouquets of hand-painted flowers as the
central motif. Authorship has not been determined,
but doors with almost identical floral patterns are in
the Hotel Talleyrand (now the U. S. Embassy building
located on the Place de la Concord), originally
designed by Ange-Jacques Gabriel and executed by his
young assistant Chalgrin for the Comte de Saint- Forentin in 1768, the same year Chalgrin was working
19Christian Baulez and Jean-Frangois Mejanes both refer to Chalgrin. iS
Figure 10. Salon Dore overdoor panel. 19 at the Hdtel de Clermont.20 It has been suggested
that the artist was L'Huilier, who did decorative
painting with floral motifs under Pierre Rousseau,21
architect of the small apartments at Versailles and of
the Hotel de Salm in Paris, but there is no linking
evidence as yet. Compare Figures 11 and 12 with Hotel Talleyrand, Figures 13-15. This still life painting,
derived from seventeenth-century Dutch art, was very
much in demand as a form of decoration. The texture
of the ribbons and the flowers here is exquisite.
Comparisons
The stylistic relationship to the Hdtel de
Talleyrand is significant because there is a striking
resemblance in several design motifs. As discussed
above, the similarity in the floral medallions may
indicate that both sets of doors were done under
Chalgrin's supervision about 1768. That Chalgrin was
the supervising architect at the hdtel de Clermont is
evidenced by a November 1771 legal document which
20Hugh Newell Jacobsen, FAIA, during his architectural restoration of the Hdtel Talleyrand, pointed out that Chalgrin was twenty-eight years old when he worked with Gabriel on Hdtel Talleyrand in 1768, the year he also worked on the Hdtel de Clermont.
21There have been two independent suggestions by noted conservators that the author of the paintings on the door may have been L'Huilier. 20
Figure 11. Salon Dore door panels. 21
Figure 12. Salon Dor6 door panels. 22
yyi-f-1 23
Figure 14. Hotel Talleyrand door panels. 24
•)
Figure 15. Hotel Talleyrand door panel. 25
lists Chalgrin as settling a bill for 5994 pounds for
work done by Elie Janel on the rue de Varenne.22
Chalgrin's work at the Hdtel Talleyrand is documented by original plans in the Bibliotheque National.
While there are boiserie and arabesque design
motifs that appear original at the Hotel Talleyrand
(see Figures 16 and 17) that are not to be found at
Hdtel de Clermont today, it does not rule out the possibility that these motifs were once part of the
interior design of both hdtels.
A comparative study of the abovedoors in both
hotels also indicates that they may have been done by
the same artistic sensibility. Compare Figure 10 of
the Salon Dord's abovedoor panel with Figures 18 and
19, illustrating the Hdtel Talleyrand's abovedoor
panels. In the latter, two putti are supporting
emblems of the liberal arts and virtues. The plaster
bas-relief panels at the Hdtel Talleyrand were done by
Frangois Joseph Duret,23 who worked often with
Chalgrin. Further study may determine whether the
Corcoran's panels are the work of the same artist.
The cornice patterns in both hdtels are also
similar, but at the Hdtel Talleyrand they have been
22Baulez. p. 69.
23Retour a L'Hotel de Talleyrand, p. 27. Bruno Pons as told to Robert Carlhian. Figure 16. Wood boiserie from the Hdtel Talleyrand. Figure 17. Arabesque panel from the Hotel Talleyrand. Figure 18. H6tel Talleyrand overdoor panel.
ShUV*ti*timmrnmmmmmmm Figure 19. Hdtel Talleyrand overdoor panel. 29 recomposed. According to Robert Carlhian, who oversaw
the restoration of the interiors at Talleyrand under Hugh Newell Jacobsen, the top of a cornice in one room
was transposed to the bottom of a cornice in another
room during restorations. Also, plaster molds were
made of the original cornice design, and then
additional sections were cast to extend the cornice.
The provenance of the fireplace in the Salon
Dore is uncertain. (See Figure 20.) The original
fireplace at Talleyrand executed under Chalgrin is
stylistically the same although the gilt ornamentation
differs slightly (see Figure 21).24
On the exterior of both buildings, a pair of
lions flank the entrance doors. The lions at the
Hotel Talleyrand are recumbent, seated on rectangular plinths, while those at the Hotel de Clermont are
standing on taller plinths with garlanded bucrania in bas relief.25 Compare Figure 22, the Hdtel de
Clermont's lion, with Figure 23, Hotel Talleyrand's lion. Talleyrand's lion was carved by F. J. Duret in
24Mr. Robert Carlhian kindly gave me his photograph of the unrestored fireplace at the Hotel Talleyrand. He said, to his knowledge, it was original.
25Bucrania are found in metopes on classical Doric friezes; they became a popular neo-classical motif. Figure 20. Fireplace, H6tel Talleyrand
Figure 21. Unrestored Fireplace, Hotel Talleyrand (Robert Carlhian Photo) 31
Figure 22. Standing lion, Hotel de Clermont
Figure 23. Recumbent lion, Hdtel Talleyrand. 32
stone from Conflans.26 Although Clermont's lions
have no known authorship, they do seem to be exact counterparts. Lions were not on LeBlond's original
architectural elevations of 1708.
By noting the stylistic relationship of the two
hotels, the authenticity of the period and the
authorship of some of the interior details in the
Salon Dore may be clarified. The 1898 etching by Champeaux (see Figure 8) is
extremely useful in authenticating the original
decorative motifs and their arrangement. The evidence thus suggests that the Salon Dore represents a
reconstructed, although still original, room. The
measurements of the original room indicate that the Salon Dore is thirteen feet longer than the chambre
that fronts the garden. The axial direction has been
changed and lengthened to accommodate Taraval's mural
which was originally in the central large grand salon.
The original room had two windows on the garden
fagade; the Salon Dor6 has three. The Salon Dore has five original trumeaux de alace, all over eleven feet tall and four feet wide with three and a half inch
frames. (The mirror-paneled door is modern.) The tall mirror became a popular decorative motif to
26Retour. p. 27. 33
reflect light from the long windows and from the gilded boiserie.
While the Salon Dore is not pristine, it is an
authentic Louis XVI period room from about 1768 in the
neo-classical style that chronicles the artistic response to the Enlightenment.
The Salon Dore was removed from the Hotel de
Clermont prior to its 1905 sale to Aubry-Vitet.
Before the sale, a copy of the room was made and
installed in exactly the same place as the original
room. That room is now the main office of the
Ministre de la Function Publique et des Reformes
Administratives.
Neo-Classical Stvle
While there is no overall icongraphic style to
the Salon Dore, the neo-classical period is reflected
by its use of Antique decorative details. The
symmetry, brilliant carving of motifs from Roman or
Greek sources, the rhythmic disposition of fluted
Corinthian pilasters, the cornice, overdoor and trophy
panels, and the tall mirrors, all combine to produce
an exact and formal interrelationship characteristic
of the Louis XVI period. This was the time when rocaille ornamentation lessened, curved lines
straightened, and the grandiosity of Versailles was 34 was becoming tedious. Mirrors and columns replaced
marble and paintings. There was a new respect for
harmonic proportions and right-angle architectural
decor, such as dentilated patterns and fluted
pilasters, as ornament.
The discovery of Herculaneum in 1738 and Pompeii
in 1748 were catalysts in the development of neo-
classicism. Religion shifted from strict Catholicism
to a prevailing belief in deism with reason becoming
the underlying basis of society. Pagan mythology was
resurrected along with the gods of Antiquity to give a
clarion call to morality and virtue. The
archeological and mythological references came to be
interpreted in a light and gracious sense. Neo-
classicism was a manifestation of political and
ideological changes that occurred in society during
the Enlightenment. The "Greek taste" still expressed
grandeur, elitism, and power, but it was headed toward
a new "noble simplicity." The new Louis XVI style had immense influence on Thomas Jefferson and the
official style now seen in American public buildings, beginning with his state Capitol in Richmond in
1785.27
27Jefferson, while he was minister to France in the 1780s, lived at the Hfitel de Langeac, designed by Chalgrin. 35
Furniture of the Louis XVI Period Eighteenth-century French furniture reached a
high state of excellence and sophistication which
resulted from strict adherence to guild rules and
rigid training of the craftsman.
Most furniture was made to the dimensions of the
room and complemented the structural or architectural
lines. Cabinets, commodes, desks, and luxury items
were designed to fit against a specific wall area
creating a harmonious blend. Louis XVI furniture,
like the architecture, moved from the ostentatious
discomfort of Versailles and curved delicacy of the
rococo to the straight-lined style with classic gilt
bronze ornament. It was frequently called
•'Transitional" when it employed both the Louis XV
curved line and the XVI straight leg. In general,
lines became simpler and straighter, though not
ungraceful. By the 1760s it was a lighter, more
severe style with impeccable craftmanship, pictorial
or mosaic marquetry (inlaid decoration) and ormolu
(gold leaf on bronze) mounts. Ormolu was practical
and beautiful because it created a protective covering to hold down the inlay and marquetry. Chinese and
Japanese lacquerwork on ebony was also popular.
Different kinds of furniture evolved to fit into smaller more intimate rooms, which began to be 36
designated for specific uses. As people moved in from
Versailles into Paris, they were more interested in
comfort than ceremony. An aristocratic salon might
contain elegant furnishings, such as desks, commodes,
arm chairs ( fauteuils (open sides) and berqeres
(closed sides), often upholstered in Beauvais
tapestry, and a variety of sculptures and portraits.
The Beauvais Tapestry Works was sanctioned in 1664
during the reign of Louis XIV and they made low-warp
tapestries from cartoons to supply the nobility and
gentry. The Gobelins factory supplied tapestry only
for the court palaces.28 Artists, such as Boucher,
Coypel, and Natoire, did Arcadian themes or bouquets
of flowers and fruit. (See Figure 24.)
There would also be a great variety of
decorative obiets d'art richly decorated with
classical motifs, such as sconces, candelabra,
chenets, (andirons) and clocks. During the 1760s the
acanthus leaf, fluting, and garlands with ribbons
replaced the rocaille and rosette motifs, but motifs
were still richly decorated with gilt. Ormolu mounts were made for porcelain and faience to serve as garniture on the mantel piece. Although the designs were more pure, and based on Antique prototypes and
28,1 Eighteenth-Century Decorative Arts," National Gallery of Art pamphlet, Washington, D.C. 37
Figure 24. Beauvais tapestry on Louis XVI chair. (Cond6 Musee, Chantilly) 38 archeological exactitude, the intent in acquiring the obiets was to beautify the intimate side of life. The artists worked with the artisans who worked with the architects. During this time art collectors became more prevalent and connoisseurship grew more widespread. One of the finest furniture makers of the day,
Georges Jacob, belonged to the atelier of Jacques-
Louis David.29 His chair frames (see Figures 25-27) exemplify the refined craftmanship and exquisite detailing of his work.30 It was he who invented the rosette motif set in a square at the junction of the leg and the seat rail. (See Figure 26.) This Louis
XVI bergere frame (marked by Jacob twice in the back of the frame) has a molded arched backrest with padded armrests. The bow-fronted seat is raised on circular tapered legs. There is superb craftmanship in the joinery.
The fauteuil frame illustrated in Figure 27 is also by Jacob. It has a rectangular backrest with padded armrests raised on down-curve supports carved with acanthus leaves. The fluted chair legs would
29Jean-Frangois Boisset, Le Stvle Louis XVI. p • 53 •
30Mr. Bernard Baruch Steinitz very kindly allowed me to photograph the chairs and the secretaire a cvlindre from his collection on the rue Saint-Honore. 39
Figure 25. Bernard Steinitz mobilier collection. Jacob initials are located on the inside of the back seat rail. 40
Figure 26. Bergdre of Georges Jacob from Louis XVI period. Rosette is at the junction of seat rail and leg. 41
Figure 27. Louis XVI fauteuil with fluted legs. 42 complement the fluted pilasters and architectural
lines of the room.
The secretaire a cvlindre (see Figure 28) was made by Jean-Frangois Leleu, a pupil of Jean-Fran?ois
Oeben, the first cabinetmaker to Louis XV, and to
Madame de Pompadour. It carries the Louis XVI fluted tapered leg typical of the period. It has a gray marble rectangular top and foliate ormolu rosettes at the junction of the drawer and leg. Precise marquetry in different colored woods, which Leleu learned from
Oeben, was applied in a pattern to the body of a piece of furniture. Sometimes woods were dyed to give an extraordinary effect. The garland at the top of the fluted leg identifies the desk as Louis XVI, Leleu was the first cabinetmaker to use Roman motifs instead of rococo foliage in mounts.31 He bequeathed to France a legacy of neo-classical refined elegance.
Furniture of the Salon Dore
Senator Clark purchased numerous pieces of furniture and decorative arts, and when the Salon Dore was installed at the Corcoran, an ensemble was created to convey the spirit of a salon in mid-eighteenth- century France. The salon was the centerpiece of the
31Louise Ade Boger, Furniture Past and Present. p. 157. 43
Figure 28. Louis XVI Secretaire A cvlindre. Jean- Frangois Leleu, designer. Steinitz collection. 44 hdtel particulier. the place where society congregated. Women were well educated and sought to create an atmosphere for high conversation and sophisticated etiquette. The Salon Dore is considered to be Transitional: The Louis XVI period began about
1760, and although Louis did not take the throne until
1774, a new attitude had begun to evolve which lasted about ten years.
The neo-classical period may be said to have started with Gabriel's Petit Trianon, begun in 1761
32 for Madame de Pompador. She dictated fashionable taste during her twenty years as Louis XVI's mistress until she died in 1764. One need only compare the
Petit Trianon with the principal palace at Versailles to note the direction of simplification that evolved within the context of the Enlightenment. The interiors ran a parallel course, although slightly behind, and were directly inspired by the desire to emulate classical civilizations. The Comte d'Orsay belonged to the avant garde; in selecting Chalgrin to oversee the renovation, D'Orsay ensured that the hotel de Clermont would be an early and prominent manifestation of the new style.
32Ibid, p. 158. 45
Highlights from the Clark Collection
1. Louis XVI Ormolu-Mounted Inlaid Commode by Pierre Antoine Foullet.
Size: H: 34%" W: 67" D: 23%"
Signed, top r. corner, under marble top.
(See Figure 29.)
The commode evolved around 1700 from lidded
chests33 and became the most popular kind of
bureau. It was most often placed between two
windows under a trumeau (tall mirror) at the
height of the wall dado. It was usually
rectangular, containing two or three rows of
drawers, and was made out of oak or mahogany with marquetries of more exotic woods, such as
fruitwood, satinwood, or tulipwood.
Pierre Antoine Foullet designed the commode
illustrated in Figure 29. He was made a master
ebeniste in 1765. His furniture, like that of
David Roentgen, is known for its inlay in
various woods of pictorial marquetry in various
33"Kanzler Room," Detroit Institute of Arts pamphlet. Figure 29. Louis XVI ormolu-mounted inlaid commode. Pierre Antoine Foullet, designer. Clark Collection, Corcoran Gallery of Art. 47
wood tones.34 Many different wood inlay materials were imported from French colonies in
the West and East Indies.
The commode in Figure 21 has straight sides of
feathered tulipwood with floral marquetry in
various natural woods framed in oval ormolu
medallions. There is a frieze or trellis of
interlacement. The cabriolet legs have ormolu
acanthus leaves, and there is a Breche violette
marble top.35
34Boger, p. 135.
35The dimensions and decorative details of the furnishings come from the Registrar at the Corcoran. Louis XV Giltwood Bergdre, from a set of twelve
pieces. Frames modern.
Size: H: 41" W: 40%" D: 29%" (See Figure 30.)
The beraere was the most typical chair in mid-
eighteenth-century France. It is characterized by solid sides and a loose cushion. The
fauteuil (see Figure 21) had open spaces under the arms and an upholstered back. The canap6 was wider to accommodate the wide skirts of the time or to seat two people.36
Louis XV chairs can be recognized by the continuous curving character of the wood frame.
They have cabriolet legs and a graceful elegance of a feminine style. Louis XVI chairs are more angular with joints and straight legs. There is an architectural manner to them and they are decorated with delicately carved motifs from classical sources.
The chair in Figure 30 has a molded voluted frame carved with a flowerhead and raised on cabriolet legs on toes. The wood frame is
36Boger, Furniture, p. 135. 49
Figure 30. Louis XV giltwood bergere. Note curving character of the chair and cabriolet leg. Chairback has Beauvais tapestry. Clark Collection, Corcoran. modern, although done in the Louis XV style.
The wood is carved with an imbricated design.
Chair backs are covered in Beauvais tapestry which illustrate muses with a backdrop of blue drapery. The seats have pastoral subjects which are woven from designs or cartoons. Pair of Louis XVI Gilt Bronze Chenets
Size: H: 20" W: 20: (See Figure 31.)
The fireplace was the central motif of the eighteenth-century salon. Mantels were straight with curved sides. The original fireplace of the salon in the Hotel de Clermont was marble inlaid with copper.37 Most often mirrors were inset directly above the mantel which carried candelabra, decorative bronzes, or porcelain figures. Decorative obiets. such as urns made out of Sevres porcelain surmounted by scrolled handles were popular. Often classical scenes in ormolu relief decorated vases raised on shallow plinths. Clocks were de riaueur and centrally placed.
Andirons, or chenets. were central features for the fireplace, and they were executed in gilt bronze with superb precision.
The chenet featured in Figure 31 has a head of
Medusa as the main motif, with a scrolled panel on each side supporting a flaming urn. Each
37Champeaux, Vieux Paris, p. 125. Figure 31. Louis XVI chenet, Clark Collection.
Figure 32. Mantel Clock, Clark Collection, Corcoran Gallery of Art. carries ornamentation of garlands of fruit with pine cones with rams' heads and legs. The detail of these chenets lifts them into the realm of fine sculpture. Louis XVI Bronze and Marble Mantel Clock
Size: H: 21" W: 24" (See Figure 32.)
Mantel clocks, andirons, candelabra, sconces,
and mounts were all used as embellishments in
the salons of the age. Beauty of form,
refinement of finish, cleverness of conceits were all hallmarks of style and added intimacy
and charm to the more informal ambiance outside
of Versailles.
Bronze takes ormolu gilding very well and was in great use in the eighteenth and nineteenth century to make decorative mounts for obiets. candelabra, clocks, and chenets.
The nineteenth-century mantel clock in Figure 32 is on a green, marble plinth with fluted pilasters. A bacchante, a priestess of the wine god Bacchus, gives her putto friend grapes from the vine. Followers of Bacchus were dressed in goat or panther skins or wrapped in leaves of ivy. The clock is driven in a chariot led by two lionesses. In this clever conceit the playful bacchante has a perfect sense of balance 55 through the movement of time. Clock is signed Bourre, Paris. 9
56
5. The Birdcatchers by Frangois Boucher
Date: 1760s
(See Figure 33.)
French art of mid-eighteenth-century France
moved a few years behind architecture from the
rococo of Boucher and Fragonard of the 1750s to
the neo-classical inspiration of Hubert Robert
and Jacques-Louis David in the 1780s, when the
subject of Antiquity and republican philosophy
took hold.
Frangois Boucher (1703-1770) was the great
rococo decorator and tapestry designer of
chinoiserie and gay Arcadian scenes at the
king's factory at Beauvais. He won the Prix de
Rome in 1723, where he was influenced by Cortona
and Tiepolo and later became the first painter
to Louis XV in 1765.38 He was Madame de
Pompadour's favorite, the artist of the salon
and court gallantries. A painter of great
virtuosity, he preferred mythological subjects,
but painted portraits, landscapes, and licentious subjects. His plump putti in pastel
38Edward Lucie-Smith, A Concise History of French Painting, p. 135. 57
shades helped to give France its unrivaled image of elegance and grace under Madame de Pompadour.
The Birdcatchers is a small decorative scene with the kind of artificiality favored by the court. La Musiaue. designed as an overdoor decoration, is painted from the perspective to be seen from below. (See Figure 34.) Boucher rejected the classicizing tendency and the Greek qoQt. in preference for gay and feminine allegories. Figure 33. The Birdcatchers. Clark Collection, Corcoran Gallery of Art.
Figure 34. La Musiaue. Clark Collection, Corcoran Gallery of Art. Madame du Barrv by Vigee-le-Brun (See Figure 35.)
Neglected as a woman artist until the 1970s,
Elisabeth Vig§e-le-Brun was a wonderfully
talented portrait painter at the time of David,
Gros, and Ingres, when Marie Antoinette was
queen. Earlier than most women, she painted and
wrote for a living, and when pressed to escape
the Revolution in 1789 because of her
associations with royalty, she crossed national borders with her six-year-old daughter, leaving her husband behind in France.39
She was the daughter of a pastel portrait painter and began painting the aristocracy at the age of seventeen.40 Instead of displaying jewels to convey rank, she would paint women in floral headdresses or displaying their children, giving a subtle freedom to the court life of strict social hierarchy. She knew how to see beauty. If her sitters lacked physical attractiveness, she brought out their wit or wisdom.
39Sian Evans, Memoirs of Viq6e-le Brun. p. 3.
40Ibid., p. 12. 60
Figure 35. Madame du Barry. Clark Collection, Corcoran Gallery of Art. Madame du Barry is portrayed in a natural composition, her charm stemming from her emotional expression and sense of color. It is not a formal pose, but rather a private moment that the artist has captured. PART II
THE HOTEL DE CLERMONT
Faubourg Saint-Germain
The Salon Dore came from 1'hotel de Clermont located at 69 rue de Varenne in the Faubourg Saint-
Germain, west of Saint-Germain-des-Pres, an old
Benedictine abbey and the oldest church in Paris, founded in 542 A.D. by King Childebert to shelter relics brought back from Spain. It was named after
St. Germanus, the bishop of Paris.41
The abbey was once surrounded by a crenelated wall punctuated by towers behind a moat. A town built up inside the walls around the church, evolving into a bourq (faux-bourg),42 Outside the bourg were vacant lots (pres means fields) or countryside, which was used for framing until the end of the seventeenth century, when hotels particuliers began to be built.
In 1706 Louis XIV inaugurated Jules-Hardouin Mansart's crowning dome of the Church of the Invalides
41Michelin, Guide to Paris, p. 106.
42Champeaux, Vieux Paris, p. 125.
62 63
(see Figure 36), which became in religious architecture what Versailles was in secular— a celebration of the splendor of his rule. The rue de
Varenne runs east-west from the abbey toward the church. In the eighteenth century, when the nobility fled from Versailles back to Paris, many built smaller, private hdtels in the Faubourg Saint-Germain along the rue de Varenne.43 The noble faubourg took shape, and one monumental portal after another was built by the great architects of the time, J. H. Mansart, Germain Boffrand, Jacgues Gabriel the Elder,
Courtonne, and LeBlond. Each has a cour d /honneur leading to a hotel particulier with the main rooms in the back facing a long garden, or pare. The fashionable life, the intellectual fervor of the
Enlightenment, and the magnificence of the architecture established in the faubourg, all contributed to make the area the dominant source of influence for gracious living throughout Europe.
Rue de Varenne
The rue de Varenne is the quintessence of the
Faubourg Saint-Germain, and one of the most imposing streets in Paris. The Count of Varenne was the
43Rue de Varenne. Introduction, p. 3. 64
IflSi
Figure 36. Dome of the Church of the Invalides by J.F. Mansart, inaugurated in 1706 by Louis XIV. It lies at the western end of rue de Varenne. 65
foreign minister to Louis XVI who was responsible for
sending troops and a navy to General Washington.44
The Plan of Turgot of 1738 (see Figure 37)45
illustrates a bird's eye view of Louis XIV's Paris,
and the extent of the green areas. The street has
always been an axis for promenade, rather than
circulation; it is a narrow street, with no
intersecting streets of a grid. The blind walls and
cadenced rhythm of its high portals mark it off as an
area of haughty discretion and subtle refinements. It
has never been part of the commercial world of Paris;
no buses and fewer taxis are to be found there. The
high doorways and long back gardens keep the enclosed
world free from indiscreet eyes.46
Only the Faubourg Saint-Honore on the right bank
rivals the beauty of the architecture, the size of the
gardens, and the noblesse of the inhabitants of the
rue de Varenne. But in the nineteenth century, the
Faubourg Saint-Honore became a financial center and
the hub of Napoleonic nobility, and today is known for its commercial success.
44Dr. Theodore Turak of American University, personal interview, June 11, 1991.
45John Russell, Paris, p. 277. The Plan of Turgot of 1738 is available for purchase in the Monuments Historique bookstore at the Hotel du Sully in the Marais.
46Baulez, p. 3. 66
Figure 37. Plan of Turgot of 1728. Note Hotel de Clermont in lower right-hand corner, Hotel de Matignon close by. 67
The rue de Varenne has remained unchanged, and successive generations of the same families lived there from the 1700s until World War I. Baron
Georges-Eugdne Haussmann, fortunately, left the area unscathed in the 1870s. Only income taxes have gnawed away at the life style. The hotels have been divided and rented, first to families, then to strangers.
European nobility and financiers also bought in and have assumed the inherited panache of their neighbors.
More recently, hotels have been acquired by the French state to be used as ministries. Embassies and museums also reflect the life of the twentieth century, and a few hdtels have been broken into condominiums with many of the first-floor apartments bearing the names of architectural firms.
Walking down the street toward Saint Germain- des-Pres from the Invalides enables one to experience the graciousness that is still very much in evidence. (See Figure 38.) (See Figure 3 to follow the map.)
The rue de Varenne intersects with the Boulevard des
Invalides at Mansart's gold dome, and the first hotel on rue de Varenne is the MusOe Rodin (see Figure 39), or Hotel Biron, built by Jacques Gabriel the Elder in
1728. The Hotel de Villeroy, No. 78-80, was built in
1724 and now houses the ministry of Agriculture. (See
Figure 40.) Almost directly across the street is the Figure 38. View up rue de Varenne from Invalides
Figure 39. Mus6e Rodin, by Jacques Gabriel. Figure 40. Ministry of Agriculture 70
H6tel de Clermont, built in 1708-1714 by Jean-Baptiste
Alexandre LeBlond, which houses today the Ministry of the Fonction Publique et des Reformes Administratives.
(See Figure 41.) Gendarmes guard its entrance at 69 rue de Varenne. At No. 57, also on the south side of the street not far away, is the H6tel Matignon built in 1721 by Courtonne, and today, it is the residence of the Prime Minister of France. More gendarmes.
(See Figures 42 and 43.) It was a former residence of
Talleyrand and the Austro-Hungarian Embassy. No. 47 is currently the Italian Embassy. (See Figure 44.)
The overhanging tress, high walls, classical arched portals of the hotels particuliers and serenity of the street still cast the spell of elegance and privilege known to its early inhabitants.
Hotel de Clermont. Architectural Style
The H6tel de Clermont, one of the earliest of the hotels particuliers constructed on the rue de
Varenne, was begun in 1708. It captured the spirit of the times and set in scale and style the architecture for subsequent grand residences of the street. Like most hotels of the Louis XV period, the principal residence was located between the court and the garden. Behind the carriage entrance portals, servants' quarters, constructed above the stables, 71
Figure 41. Hotel de Clermont, entrance portal. 72
Figure 42. Hotel de Matignon, entrance portal showing interior court and rococo decoratiye detailing, classical corps. 73
Figure 43. Hotel Matignon, interior court. Figure 44. Italian Embassy, No. 47 rue de Varenne. 75
Were separated from the principal coros-de-loais by a
cobblestone or gravel avant cour. The long back
garden, or pare was created out of the original
countryside belonging to the abbey. The intent of the
early hdtel owners was to build a country house within
the walls of Paris. The main salons form an enfilade
(straight line) on the rez-de-chaussee (first floor
level) facing the garden. The piano nobile (upper
floor) has the more intimate rooms.
The H6tel de Clermont is a building of elegant
proportions and human scale. It is based on the
Renaissance classical tradition of Lemercier, Le Vau,
and Frangois Mansart, but it is simplified. Built
just before crossing into the rococo, the Hotel de
Clermont manifests a taut clarity of line based on the
prescribed doctrine of harmonic proportions and the
Golden Section borrowed from Vitruvius. It is lighter
than Mansart's, with exterior decoration reduced to a
regular rhythm of arched bay windows across the entire fagade held by simple keystones and flat Ionic
pilasters on the end pavilions. Built as a long, low
rectangular block, it is symmetrical with a central
door. There is a decrease in scale from Maisons-
Lafitte and Vaux-le-Vicomte and greater delicacy.
There is also more attention to smaller cabinets, as rooms for specific use were evolving at this time. The 76
exterior is made from local stone, and it is divided
into a discrete rhythm of horizontal bands of
rustication. (See Figure 45.) The elevation
originally consisted of two stories with a central
fronton, or pediment, topped by acroteria. (See
Figure 46.) Two sculptured figures of Pan and Pomone
flanked the front portal. A classical balustrade with
twelve sculptured vases enhanced the long low line.
End pavilions have rectangular windows with parried
Ionic pilasters and wrought-iron balconies, which
distinguish them from the arched bay rhythm of the
main loais. A frontispiece added to the entrance, a
third story extension to the roof line, and rounded
right-angle pavilion wings on the sides— all are
subsequent additions which have altered the lines of the original hotel. (See Figure 47.) The garden
fagade shows the original clarity and restraint of the
classical line with its horizontal skyline. (See
Figure 48.) The paired Ionic pilasters provide a
restrained decorative accent. (See Figure 49.) Along with the classical balustrade, which runs the length of both fagades and pavilion wings. (See Figure.50.)
According to Michel le Moel, two end pavilions were detached and moved to the avant court. While it allowed for a maximum lengthening of the 77
I \ g ij' j
*< , fIt >■ f o - l ' T‘Is ,|(_ "" i ,
Figure 45. Identification placque, Clermont. Note rusticated horizontal bands. Figure 46. Avant cour of Hotel de Clermont, currently used for parking. Vestibule frontispiece with Ionic pilasters was added in 1838. 79
Figure 48. Garden Fagade, south elevation. Salon Dore was located on lower right, rez-de-chaussee. 80
Figure 49. Close up Ionic pilasters, garden fagade.
Figure 50. Classical balustrade, Cour et avant cour. 81
fagade, the kitchen and area designated for office
space were then detached from the house.47 The
original enlarged floor plan illustrates the location
of the cuisine and the disposition of the rooms in the hdtel. (See Figure 51.)48
The interior, two rooms deep, consists of a main
vestibule with flanking state apartments facing the
rue de Varenne. They lead to the three principal
salons facing the garden, which form an enfilade of
light, sparkle, and grace. The appearance of smaller
cabinets reveals a new desire for comfort and
intimacy. A recent sketch of the current floorplan
illustrates the current arrangement of space as a government ministry. (See Figure 52.) The removal of the stairway from next to the vestibule to the left far end allowed the entrance to be greatly expanded.
(See Figures 53 and 54.) The Corcoran's Salon Dore came from the chambre a coucher located on the garden fagade, to the left of the central grand salon, or aaleria. It might have been used for the morning levee, which only the most important people were admitted to observe. Two floor-to-ceiling windows connect it directly to the balustraded terrace, which was added in 1838 by Comte DuchStel. (See Figure 55.)
47Ibid., p. 65.
48Moel. 82
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! Tl P r e m i e r jl \ ftcorut* virtihUc m j* * ; N 1 ipkawi/Ft/rei^l!^ %Ta{(c ^ '■\r*tr ere. ; 'cLMan^er*
Grille
Figure 51. Enlarged original floor plan. 83
Terajjc
(Trand Salon. (D er4.~)
VtstihUe
ft Villon
I G»riie • V/*■«<£#«<
cottr
Figure 52. Floor plan sketch, 1990. Stairs repositioned in 1838 and vestibule enlarged. 84
Figure 53. Grand foyer, enlarged. Columns brought back from Rome by Comte d'Orsay. 85
Figure 54. Granite shaft with Ionic capitals, vestibule. 86
Figure 55. South elevation. Close-up of garden fagade. Exterior of original corner Salon.
1 ^ 4'- . -4
Figure 56. Jardin anglais, with circular path. 87 Le Jardin
The original iardin was vast, ornate, and based
on the mathematical ratios of Italian Renaissance
prototypes,49 but with Baroque diagonal paths and
allees made popular by Versailles. (See Figure 57.)
The carved parterres with vases and statues of heroic figures made an aesthetic correlation to the hdtel.
At some point, perhaps with the influx of the
iardin anglais under Marie Antoinette, a carefully structured "natural setting" was established along the
lines of Chiswick and Stowe or Prior Park, with wooded clusters alternating with sweeps of grass. Today, in a greatly reduced area, a circular path leads around the periphery, giving an informal ordering of simplicity and tranquility. (See Figures 56.)
The Architect
The architect was Jean-Baptiste Alexandre
LeBlond (1679-1719); the son of a painter,50 and a painter-illustrator in his own right, he was a pupil of Jules Hardouin Mansart. He combined the technique of masonry with the training of an artist. LeBlond designed three or four other hotels in Paris in addition to the H6tel de Clermont before moving to St.
49Baulez. p. 65.
S0Encvclopedia of World Art. p. 248. 88
.L-tttfcW*f ttt.t. t i h • f*!»♦•». «%«,% IV%. i %iv i:«t l it — tr.ttt*f«tv tit. I(Ukt, t* • l «i|. U i £«<•.«puF tt(iU i • * » v tit lit. ttttvm
v wiisfcwifcwjtjijii!
Figure 57. Original jardin based on Italian Renaissance prototype, with formal parterres. Petersburg. They date between 1705 and 1714, are in
highly fashionable areas, and they are all dressed in
the classical idiom. One is located near the Metro
station Raspail near the Luxembourg Gardens, formerly
called the H6tel de Vendome. A second hdtel, called
Maison Donoyer, was built in 1708.51 A third, the
Maison de ChStillon designed for Regnault, is located at No. 13 rue de Payenne in the Marais, a royal address before the Revolution. Like the Faubourg Saint-Germain, the Marais had high walls and monumental portals, but has become fashionable with boutiques and restaurants. Although unrestored, the
H6tel de Chcitillon possesses classical architectural details similar to the Hotel de Clermont. (See
Figures 58-60.) However, it has an oval salon projecting onto a terraced garden in the back, and the front fagade carries the arcaded symmetry of Clermont.
The corps-de-loqis is centered around a cobblestone court.
In 1914 LeBlond became involved in a legal dispute and left Paris for St. Petersburg, the capital of Russia from 1712-1918. Inspired by the Renaissance models of ideal cities, he drew up a plan for the town
51Ibid. Figure 58. H6tel de Ch&tillon by Alexandre LeBlond architect of Clermont. Unrestored.
Figure 59. Portal, ChStillon. Stone masonry is similar to Clermont. 91
Figure 60. Chatillon forecourt with arcaded windows. 92
based on the Roman grid,52 streets laid out at right
angles like the ancient castrum. (See Figure 61.) He became a royal architect and designed the summer palace of Peterhof in 1719 for Peter the Great. (See
Figure 62.)53 At the age of thirty-nine, in
1719,54 he died of small pox.
Hotel de Clermont. Present Dav
The H6tel de Clermont is a superb example of eighteenth-century architecture. It has a long and interesting chronology, with successive owners restoring and improving the building to suit their particular needs. The most important restoration occurred in 1768 when Pierre Marie Gaspard Grimod d'Orsay bought the hotel. This was during the first crescendo of reaction against the rococo, which began with Ange-Jacques Gabriel's Petit Trianon in 1761, and took hold with his two palaces on the Place Louis XV
(place de la Concorde). The fagades carried the trebiated (post and lintel style) columns of Claude Perrault's east fagade of the Louvre, and the new discoveries by Winckelmann and Piranesi in Italy.
52Ibid.
53John Summerson, The Architecture of the Eighteenth Century, p. 331.
54Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architecture, p. 626. 93
Figure 61. LeBlond's Plan for St. Petersburg based on Renaissance grid and Roman castrum. (Cyclopedia photo)
Figure 62. Fagade of Peterhof, LeBlond's classical design for Peter the Great. (Summerson photo.) 94
D'Orsay's role as patron and popularizer of the neo
classical style during the period of Louis XVI put the
Hotel de Clermont at the fore of the movement in
Paris.
Although the hotel received subsequent
alterations in the 1830s, much of what d'Orsay did remains, and is identified by a comparason with the
HStel Talleyrand (see discussion above). When the hotel was sold in 1905, the salon had already been removed and replaced by Aubry-Vitet, the next owner.
The duplicate room has the same dimensions as the former room so it allows one to see the original format and style.
D'Orsay was avant-garde, so the room testifies to the stylistic preferences of the time in architecture, interior architecture, furniture, and art. There are no family archives, but the accuracy of dates of ownership transfers and commissions have been resolved partially through an examination of the deeds of sale, notarial records, by Messrs. Moel,
Baulez, and MSjanes. Clermont and D'Orsay were members of the King's entourage, and documents regarding the genealogy of the house and its history of construction that might not have endured otherwise are available at the Archives and Bibliothftque
National. (Figures 63 and 64 present a copy of an 95
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Legal consent, page 2. 97 affidavit attesting to D'Orsay's "coining of age" and his ability to buy the hotel in 1768.) Figures 65 through 70 present the Salon as it is today with the decorative elements described in Part I seen in situ. It is indeed difficult to discern that it is a reproduction, even with photographs of the Corcoran's original in tow. (Return to Figure 1.) The walls are decorated with the very same fluted Corinthian pilasters, only the gilding extends three-quarters of the way up the column with a shorter expanse at the top. The trophies are located between the double pilasters, quite different from their placement at the Corcoran. The abovedoor panels are exact duplicates of those at the Corcoran: putti support various muses enframed within a beribboned gilt oval medallion. The putti and the muse are painted white, however. Either casts of the original were made just prior to 1905, or they were retained throughout the two-hundred year history. The heavy cornice with an acanthus leaf border superimposed by a row of medallion blocks, is again bordered with gold, and most probably made from casts. The cornice and the pilasters proclaim the grandeur of the room in the "croQt areaue." There are four pairs of doors, each with two leafs containing the very same medallions of painted 98 t8§pB» 5jjJ[|BB^M BiBai-2iZZ^<^^^i^^iBH jH BBffBBH BH [W PllBI^BlBffttttJhrftri^ai,,*Ti>''nrri i Figure 6 5 . Abovedoor panel in Clermont's original corner Salon, a replication o f the abovedoor panel in th e Salon Dore. 99 Figure 66. Clermont's doors with floral panels. Compare with Figures 11 and 12, of the Salon Dore. 100 Figure 67. Corinthian pilasters from Clermont's Grand Salon. Note the manner of partial gilding. Figure 68 Figure 69. Fireplace in the original corner salon. Room is used as office space. r Figure 70, Present ceiling mural in original corner salon. 103 flowers. These flowers have quite obviously been restored, and although replications of those at the Corcoran in design, the doors at the Hotel Talleyrand convey a closer representation in spirit. (See Figures 11 and 12.) In the Hotel de Clermont's corner salon there are five trophy panels, each forming an emblem to an interest or theme. They are not duplicate copies, and seem busier and more compact than those at the Corcoran. As one enters the room from the vestibule, the orientation is to the garden which is seen through the two floor-to-ceiling window doors. (See Figure 67.) It is a bright, beautifully lighted room, which sparkles in the morning sun from the light reflected off the mirrors and the boiserie. It is full of splendor and grace. (See Figure 68.) Although the room is currently used as an office (see Figure 69), it presents an elevated sphere by the force of its decoration and scale. The ceiling mural (see Figure 70) is a modern copy in the eighteenth- century manner of Taraval. Figures 71 through 73 present the five-bay central grand salon renovated for the government ministry. The ceiling mural is new as are the painted wood panels and abovedoor panel designs. 104 Figure 71. Redecorated central galeria with five window-doors leading to terrace. 105 Figure 72. Floor of the central galeria from 1838, showing polychromatic floral wood inlay. 106 Figure 73. Fireplace of the central galeria with rectangular marble mantel. s k i Figure 74. Fireback of the fireplace above. 107 According to Moel, the floor was added by the Comte DuchStel during his renovation of 1838-39. (See Figure 72.) A polychromatic inlay floral pattern borders a parquet of different woods. The fireback in the Central Grand Salon (see Figure 73 and 74) displays a mythological scene enframed by a rococo border. The fireback in Clermont's Salon to the left is similarly patterned. The fireplace itself has a Louis XVI rectangular marble top with straight sides. (It is perhaps best not to notice the twentieth- century incursions: electric plugs poking out from the bas-relief wood panels gloriously flanking the sides.) Figures 75 through 78 present highlights from the salon to the right of the central grand salon. Its dimensions are 22' 8" by 32' 2", two inches shorter in width than the original chambre, which measured 22' 10" by 32' 2". The doors to this room contain monograms of the initials "L" and "M" which most likely refer to Louis XIV and his wife Maria Theresa, the Infanta of Spain,55 and were brought in from Versailles or Marly. This room has a richer decoration than its counterpart. There are two fluted onyx columns with two garlanded Ionic capitals under a 55Baulez and Moel. Christian Baulez believes they came from Versailles, p. 72. 108 j.^q Jv-'J^0Al 'a* O Figure 75. Doors possibly brought in from Marly or Versailles with monogram Louis XIV and Maria-Th^resa. 109 Figure 76. Close-up of monogram. 110 'thmmm^ k k d gj f c w a i i M Figure 77. Two fluted Ionic columns located in the salon to the right of the galeria. Figure 78. Doors surmounted by arabesque cornice. 112 straight lintel which, together with the doors, gives a Louis XVI impression to the room. This room has a lighter entablature with an arabesque motif, resulting from its renovation in 1838 by the Comte Duchatel, who considered D'Orsay's decoration too sober. (See Figure 78.) The exact extent of Chalgrin's contribution has not been determined, and it is best understood by comparison of the stylistic relationship between interiors of the Hotel de Clermont and the Hdtel Talleyrand. Where the architectural decoration of both hotels reveal his sense of restrained elegance through the classical idiom, it may be attributed to Chalgrin. A relocated oval stairway joins the two floors. The bannister is not of stone, but of an interlocking design made in wrought iron, similar to the vase- patterned baluster of Chalgrin's in the H6tel Talleyrand, but actually added by the Comte Duchdtel in 1838. It carries the initials T-D in monogram. (See Figures 79 and 80.) The piano nobile has not been renovated. The second floor decorative elements, however, are previous to Chalgrin and Count d'Orsay. Two chinoiserie abovedoor panels (see Figure 81), popular during the rococo period between 1720 and 1750, flank Figure 79. Bronze rail of stairwell to the right the vestibule. Figure 80. Bronze rail of stairwell landing. 114 the Louis XV fireplace (see Figure 82) in the salon that fronts the court. The ceiling mural over the stairs (see Figure 83) has a striking resemblance to the paintings by Berthilemy in the central vestibule at the H6tel Talleyrand (see Figure 84) done under Chalgrin. Could this also be by Berthelemy? The current use of the H6tel de Clermont as a government ministry enables the residence to maintain the incomparable prestige that it once enjoyed during the eighteenth century. Along with the Hotel Matignon and the Hotel Biron (Musee Rodin), the Hdtel de Clermont stands as historic witness to the architectural triumph presented on the Rue de Varenne in the Faubourg Saint Germain. (See Figure 84.) Pre-Revolutionary History of the Hotel de Clermont While there are no family archives to delineate the chronology of the hotel, there are abundant sources of primary data to clarify the dates and nature of the successive ownerships of the hotel. Legal instruments, deeds of sale, and inventories have provided the best documentation. Three carefully researched monographs in French have been extremely valuable in piecing together the chronology of the hotel. Michel le Moel's "L'Hotel de Clermont” of 1978, a pamphlet assembled at the request of the Figure 81. Overdoor panel on wood. Chinoiserie was popular during the rococo. Figure 82. Original fireplace in upstairs office. 116 Figure 83. Mural over the stairway. Figure 84. Garden fagade, south elevation, showing rez-de-chaussee and piano nobile. 117 government ministry to understand their historic hotel, was the first scholarly research into the successive ownerships of the hdtel. A more recent study is included in the 1981 publication, the Rue de Varenne, which includes a chapter on the hotel by Christian Baulez, Conservateur au Mus6e de Versailles et Trianon. The third investigation was written in 1983 by Jean-Frangois Mejanes, Conservateur au Cabinet des Dessins at the Louvre for his Introduction to his catalogue on the drawings of the Comte d'Orsay. The following account is a summation of the three sources. The original owner was Henri de Zurlauben, a Swiss officer in service to the army of Louis XV, who died September 21, 1704, in the battle of Hochstedt. The probate of the estate took a long time and it was finally auctioned off to the daughter of Louis-Charles d'Albert due de Luynes, who had married an older member of the court, Louis de Guilhem de Castelnau de Clermont. Clermont, Marquis de Saissac, 1708-56 The Memoirs of Saint-Simon detail an intrigue involving the Marquis de Clermont-Saissac which drove him from the court of Louis XIV in 1671. He was an Ensign of the Gendarmes and of the Guard (see 118 Figure 85) who shared the Dauphin's taste for cards and adventure. Clermont decided upon an affair with the Princesse de Conti (one of the three illegitimate daughters of Louis XIV) and with her maid of honor at the same time. In order to win the king's favor, Clermont schemed to marry the maid. While he was away from the court, engaged in one of the military campaigns, the King intercepted his letters to the maid and showed them to his daughter, making her read them aloud. Shortly thereafter, Clermont was stripped of his office and sent to a distant part of the kingdom,56 where he died at the battle of Loxtep on September 24, 1704, at the age of seventy-three,57 leaving a young and pretty widow. Consoled by her inheritance, the Marquise de Clermont-Saissac signed a contract with Jean-Baptiste Alexandre LeBlond, a young but prominent architect, to build on the site on May 31, 1708. Pierre Saillian was named master mason of the first campaign. Jacques-Frangois Blondel, an influential eighteenth-century theorist who created his own school of architecture in Paris, admired LeBlond's plans for 56Saint-Simon, Memoirs. pp. 66-68. 57Moel. ^701294276 B.//A Figure 85. Arms of the Marquise de Clarmont-Saissac. (Moel photo.) 120 their elegance, simplicity, and quality.58 LeBlond also did plans for the widow's sister which resulted, unfortunately, in a lawsuit. He left Paris for St. Petersburg, where under Peter the Great he laid out plans for the city and designed Peterhof, the Tsar's summer palace. In January 1714, the Marquise asked Francois Dumont, a sculptor for the King, to finish the outside, the fronton, and the steps leading to the entrance of the hotel. Dumont's acroteria, similar to those at Versailles,59 rise above the central fronton. This same year, the building plans underwent significant changes, which were later deplored by Blondel. This second building campaign, under Charles Boscry, a new master mason, created a second courtyard by detaching the proposed wings of the central corps and locating them nearer to the rue de Varenne. This was a wise solution to expand the fagade the width of the terrain; it gave maximum breadth to the development of the narrow site. However, the removal of the kitchen and office space left some areas more exposed and prone to draftiness. The avant cour. as was the custom, contained both the ecuries and the kitchen, while the main court, next to the corps-de- 58Baulez. p. 64. 5 9 Ibid. 121 loqis. contained three geometrical parterres along the lateral axes. On the interior, the central grand salon was extended by combining it with the salon on the right, leaving only one apartment facing the garden on the main story, and interrupting the carefully laid out symmetry of LeBlond. The brother of the Marquise, Charles d'Albert de Luynes, bought land 24 x 3 meters long adjacent to her land in 1723, and constructed a smaller H6tel de Clermont. The chevalier de Luynes died February 18, 1734, leaving his sister a larger estate. She died in 1756, leaving behind chinoiserie, and wood panels that were carved with hunting trophies, which can still be seen today on the piano nobile, which has not been restored. Abovedoor panels were of subjects taken from mythology, such as bas-relief figures of Renaldo and Armida. At the time there were two comfortable apartments, the largest having a baldachin made out of carved oakwood installed with drawn curtains, and a chapel. It is this room that has the chinoiserie overdoor panels in a rococo frame. The vast formal garden contained boxwood parterres, allies of linden and maple trees, and statues placed strategically to complement geometrically shaped trees. The Marquise's iardin 122 was also utilitarian, and contained a vegetable garden, fruit trees, and a vineyard. The Due de Chaulnes, 1758-68 The grand nephew of the Marquise de Clermont- Saissac inherited the Hotel de Clermont, and he gave the property subject to his cousin Michel-Ferdinand d'Ailly, due de Chaulnes. This resulted in a unique arrangement between two branches of the same family for about nine years. The Due, although financially constrained, initiated a series of improvements under the direction of Charles-Axel Guillaumot. The garden was the particular pride of the Due de Chaulnes, and he planned a belvedere in the shape of a Chinese pavilion. He also transformed the rez- de-chaussee. substituting Doric columns for Ionic with hollow interiors which were used to convey smoke from a little stove placed in a niche in the wall. He added two pavilions on either side of the hotel, which modified the rectangular shape drawn up by LeBlond. Guillaumot, in a letter to the Academy of Architecture in 1770, described the alterations that he had made. He said that one room was reserved for company in which an entablature with a frieze with triglyphs and consoles had been added. It was at this point that the first-floor chambre a coucher became 123 embellished with mirrored trumeaux supermounted by paneled paintings above. According to Baulez, the Due also set up for himself, above the livery, a suite of rooms for his collection of books and personal items pertaining to his interest in natural history from his previous house. In addition to being a lieutenant-general in the armies of the King (Louis XV), the Due de Chaulnes was a captain in the cavalry, the governor of Picardie, and a connoisseur of the arts. Above all, however, he was an esteemed scholar and honorary member of the Academy of Sciences. There is a painting by Nattier in the Louvre depicting Hercules, which until recently, was believed to be a portrait of the Due de Chaulnes.60 In 1761, the Due separated the petit Hotel de Clermont from the main hotel and rented it to supplement his income. However, increasing debts made the sale of the hdtel inevitable. The last renter was a brother of the next owner, the Comte d'Orsay. 60Jean-Frangois Mejanes kindly told me that the attribution had been discredited. Personal interview, October 19, 1990. 124 Biography of the Comte D'Orsav. 1768-87 The Comte d'Orsay purchased the hotel May 27, 1768, and it was under his ownership that the hotel reached its highest acclaim and gained importance in the history of French art and architecture. The Hotel d'Orsay was where the first industrial expositions, which later became common in Paris, were held.61 As D'Orsay's wealth increased, primarily from his holdings in iron works and from the astute real estate investments made by his guardians, he became a collector,62 acquiring a deep love and in-depth knowledge of the beau ideal.63 His role as patron and popularizer of the neo-classical style in Paris in the 1760s, known as the Transition period, has recently come to light with the discovery at the Louvre of his personal monogram stamp, which has enabled curators to identify heretofore unknown collections of the highest quality as belonging to him. Pierre Marie Gaspard Grimod d'Orsay was born December 14, 1748, posthumously to his father. His father, a secretary to Louis XV, was Pierre Grimod du Fort, and was born in Lyon in 1692. He was a 61Champeaux. p. 125. 62Mejanes, Les Collections, p. 27. 63Ibid., p. 15. 125 financier whose fortunes increased with each of his three successive marriages. He was also a member of the Farmers General, and acquired in 1734 the Hotel Chamillart on the rue Coq-Heron in Paris, which he furnished with the Beauvais tapestry series illustrating the history of Don Quichotte done after cartoons by Natoire. According to Moel, in 1741 he bought the seianeurie land in Paris belonging to a family of aldermen by the name of Charles Boucher d'Orsay (Musee d'Orsay, but of no relation to Pierre Grimod D'Orsay), and acquired the title that conveyed with the land, thereby becoming the Comte d'Orsay. The grandfather, Antoine Grimod, was not noble; he had been a director of a customs house around the area of Lyon and had amassed an immense fortune. Pierre Marie, born of the third marriage, became qualified as a musketeer and was named captain of the Dragoons in 1770. He became first marshall for the brother of the king, the Comte de Provence in 1778. When his father died, Pierre Marie lived with his mother, who gave him 15,000 pounds per year from her annual pension of 25,000 pounds which enabled him to seek a place independent of her, despite being quite young at the time. His future was brilliant; his guardians managed his fortune well by converting his revenue into 126 buildings in Paris and also on the border of Paris near Versailles, where on the banks of the Yvette River, he acquired a chateau.64 (There is a town there today called Orsay.) Beyond the financial legacy, Count d'Orsay also inherited from his father a tendency toward ostentation along with a love for the arts and handsome marriages. From his mother he inherited an inclination toward ancestor worship, a belief in the ideal of court nobility, and a capricious nature.65 The pastel portrait (see Figure 86) is the only known portrait of Comte d'Orsay, and it was drawn before his first marriage. The traditional attribution is to Frangois-Hubert Drouais.66 There was also a profile portrait of d'Orsay in a military uniform by Josef Boze drawn in 1784 mentioned in a later inventory, which is now in the Louvre. On May 27, 1768, when d'Orsay was less than twenty years old, he bought for 546,000 livres (pounds) both the large Hotel de Clermont and the smaller, adjacent building. In the presence of a counselor to the King (Louis XV), Comte d'Orsay was made to sign a receipt which ratified his age and his 64Ibid.. p. 15. 65Baulez. p. 66. 66Meianes. p. 17. 127 Figure 86. The Comte d'Orsay. (M6janes photo.) 128 "emancipation" by his mother and friends. (See Figures 63-64.) His title, at the time of signing, was "chevalier," an honorary military title. Although young, Comte d'Orsay was known for his insistence for being known as a man of quality. He wanted his taxes to be high, which would validate his net worth.67 He could not bear being thought bourgeois.68 D'Orsay immediately initiated a major renovation on the hotel under J. F. T. Chalgrin, a twenty-eight-year-old architect who was working with Ange-Jacques Gabriel at the H6tel Talleyrand in 1768. A November 17, 1771, bill of sale refers to Chalgrin as being the architect who settled the accounts of Elie Janel for 5,994 livres (pounds) for work done at the "hotel [on the rue] de Varenne."69 Janel often worked on the hotels in Saint Germain, and the trophies in the Corcoran's Salon Dore are attributed to this master sculptor. The contractor was Pierre Convers, who took over in late 1769, according to the inventory taken at the death of Count d'Orsay's first wife in 1774.70 The nature of the changes wrought by Chalgrin is best learned by comparing the rooms on the rez-de- 67Baulez, p. 66. 68Ibid. 69Ibid., p. 68. 70Ibid.. p. 67. 129 chauss^e at the Hotel de Clermont with the H6tel Talleyrand (see discussion Part I). The walls of the original chambre §l coucher were given gilded pilasters which separated the decorated panels. Thiery's Guide to Paris of 1787 mentions rooms next to this decorated with arabesques where Taraval had painted allegorical figures.71 It is said that this room served to introduce the arabesque in France. Although this room has been destroyed, it is an important stylistic link to the H6tel Talleyrand and the supervising hand of Chalgrin because original panels at Talleyrand still display these graceful designs in exquisite detail. (See Figures 87 and refer back to Figure 13.) D'Orsav's Early Collection This first campaign for restoration and refurnishing lasted from 1768-1775 until the Comte d'Orsay left for Italy. As the study by Baulez points out, D'Orsay's choices were those of the avant-garde in Paris. He was one of the initiators and enthusiasts of the Antique style. His selection of Chalgrin as architect was also the choice of the Comte d'Artois, the brother of Louis XV and the Comtesse de Provence, the sister-in-law of the King. His choices in furniture makers were also those favored by the 71Ibid. Figure 87. Arabesque panels, Hotel Talleyrand. 131 King. Louis Delanois, the cabinet maker of the day, was placed in charge of refurnishing the entire hdtel, and he delivered 114 new wooden pieces.72 Baulez reports that among the provisions delivered were four arm chairs (fauteuils) with oval backs with upholstered arm coverings, the first of the Louis XVI- type chairs to be made. His taste at this period was eclectic, an indication of the size of his purse, rather than personal persuasion. The furniture makers favored by the King were those brought in at the Hotel de Clermont. Jean-Henri Riesener was selected to deliver a replica of a roll top desk that Riesener had made for Louis XV at Versailles. Pierre Rousseau and Jean-Frangois Leleu were also used for specific kinds of furniture. The secretaire A cvlindre (see Figures 88- 90),73 now in the Louvre in the collection of Isaac de Camondo, is not stamped Riesener, but it is attributed to him by the description of the fittings by Baulez. More recently, unexpected confirmation has come from the discovery of the monogram stamp of the Count d'Orsay by Jean-Frangois Mejan^s. The lateral 72Ibid. 73 Jean-Frangois Me janes kindly gave me copies of the illustrations of the desk, the monogram, and the keyhead from the drawing collection at the Louvre. 132 Figure 88. Secretaire a cvlindre. Comte d'Orsay. 133 Figure 89. Personal monogram stamp, Comte d'Orsay. 134 Figure 90. Keyhead to secretaire a cvlindre with monogram stamp. 135 panels of the desk carry the D'Orsay monogram framed in a gilt bronze oval. (See Figure 89.) In addition, the keyhead shows the same monogram. The marquetry on the desk is attributed to the workshop of Hugues Taraval.74 D'Orsay married on December 14, 1770, Marie- Louis-Albertine-Amelie, princess de Croy-Molembais of the illustrious house of Croy and of Saint Empire. The marriage was considered a "disproportionate alliance,"75 his family being less noble. However, she died during childbirth two years later on June 15, 1772, but the son, Jean Frangois, survived. A widower at twenty-four, D'Orsay had a sumptuous tomb built within a chapel, in which a willowy figure was seen to be coming out of the tomb at the sound of a trumpet to the rewards of her virtue.76 The decorations were to inspire piety evoked by the memory of his wife, and it was to have a cupula imitating a pantheon with obelisks. An elevation of the design is kept at the National Archives. (See Figure 91.)77 D'Orsay had seen the sculpture of Clodion, who had just returned from Rome, at a 1773 salon, and he ordered bas relief 74Baulez. p. 73, and the Corcoran Archives. 75Mejanes, p. 15. 76Ibid., p. 16. 77Baulez, p. 66. 136 Figure 91. Mausoleum built by Comte d'Orsay, 1774 137 work to decorate the sarcophagus for his wife. (The department of Sculpture at the Louvre has just acquired the terra cotta model of this work for the mausoleum.78) The 1774 inventory of the Contesse d'Orsay gives an idea of the paintings in their collection at the time. There was a portrait of the Contesse painted by Drouais, a landscape by Patel, De Troy, Natoire, and paintings by Boucher.79 Some of the art works are known to have come from her parents; forty-three are listed in total, with Dutch masters almost equalling French artists: Vandevelde, Ruisdael, Isaac Van Ostade, and Perelle are all listed.80 The paintings by Boucher, now in the Rothschild Collection, include mythological subjects, which translated are entitled, Venus with a Whip to Love. Women Pouring Water into a Vase. Sleeping Diana, and Children at Plav.81 D'Orsay asked Hugues Taraval for a match to a painting he had seen on an overdoor medallion at the Hotel de la Coq-Heron, called Diana Sleeping upon Returning from the Hunt. Taraval was later 78Me~ianes. p. 18. 79Moel. 80Baulez. p. 68. 81Ibid. 138 commissioned to paint the ceiling murals at the Hdtel de Clermont. The inventory also lists four bronze statues representing the four seasons by Martin Desjardins, which are now in the Windsor Castle collection.82 In 1775, the Count D'Orsay departed from Paris on a grand tour throughout Italy, enriching his collection of art, while renting out the smaller of the two hotels.83 This was during the time that Winckelmann was excavating along the shores of Sicily, and D'Orsay traveled to all the excavation sites from Naples to Sicily with a Russian prince, despite the coasts being ravaged by pirates.84 Italian tours were treated with enthusiasm in Paris as well as England to learn the history of taste and the arts. Montesquieu had gone on an extended trip before writing on the causes of grandeur and decadence of the Romans. Madame Pompadour's brother, the Marquis de Marigny, accompanied Soufflot and the Abbe le Blanc to study the rediscoveries of antique beauty. He later became the pioneer of the new classical taste, and the single most important figure in French patronage. 82Ibid, p. 67. 83Moel. 84Meianes. p. 23. 139 D'Orsay was recognized as a notable traveler and a cultivated man with approved tastes in letters, arts, and archeology. He was a generous patron of the arts, and on his way back from Sicily, commissioned Suvee to paint allegories for him, and purchased a collection of Charles Natoire in the autumn of 1777.85 He is known to have given money to French artists living in Rome for works equaling their total annual pension awarded to them by the King.86 He returned to Paris in 177887 where he continued to acquire works by contemporary artists. He subscribed to each new publication and also began collecting books. In the library at the Chateau D'Orsay, he kept years of publications on a diversity of interests. At a time when collector-bibliophiles were rare, D'Orsay bought illuminated manuscripts and Books of Hours. There was prodigality, but also the seeds of important collections. Until 1784, he concentrated on putting enormous collections into both his chateau and the Hotel de Clermont, which he wished to renovate to emulate Roman villas he had seen in Italy. He had brought back an 85Ibid. 86Ibid. 87Moel. 140 architect named Jean-Augustin Renard from Italy,88 and asked him to create an oval vestibule decorated in the Doric order with a vaulted dome. Renard also created a new dining room out of the salon to the right of the main chamber with virile marble columns which "came from the temple of Nero in Rome."89 (See Figure 92.) The description of the two columns in the records of the National Archives authenticates the date of entry into France. D'Orsay wanted to imitate the baths in Rome with giant columns, the purest expression of the classical ideal. The garden was also redone to receive the Antique statues and busts under Jean-Frangois Margat, who drew up an illustrated plan.90 The new decor made the H6tel de Clermont a veritable museum, rich enough and complete enough to be quoted to foreign connoisseurs as one of the highlights of Paris. D'Orsay again embarked on another series of long trips to all countries, to complete collections of paintings, drawings, and sculpture. His intention was to create a museum, not chronological, but in order to present the beau ideal 88Baulez. p. 69. 89Baulez. p. 69. 90Ibid. 141 e j t i s eJ ~4U&ve. ^?a*/ fy p u o at^/ Q