Les témoignages du lit de la chambre de la duchesse de Bourbon au Palais-Bourbon et leur présentation au Louvre

Abstract

The Louvre today holds an exceptional ensemble of Gobelins tapestries which come from the bed chamber of the Duchess of Bourbon at the Palais-Bourbon. It comprises a series of four wall tapestries executed after the cartoons of Maurice Jacques and François Boucher and three panels traditionally associated with the grand canopy bed which was the principal piece of furniture in this chamber. These tapestries were dispersed at the time of the Revolution then gradually reintegrated into the national collections by purchases between 1825 and 1970. The bed panels have been the object of a recent study in preparation for their exhibition in the Louvre’s renovated rooms devoted to art objects. The comparison with the cartoons by Maurice Jacques, held by the Mobilier national, and with indications given by eighteenth-century texts and inventories give relatively precise descriptions of the bed. This allows for a museum presentation which evokes a bed of state within the exceptional decor made up of the wood panelling of the state bed chamber of the Hôtel de Chevreuse (Luynes) in the rue Saint-Dominique in Paris.

Keywords

• tapestry
• Mobilier national
• Louvre
• Pierre Verlet
• quilt
• tapestry cartoons