Hôtel d'Aumont revisited: The decoration of the cabinet de toilette in 1776 | Retour sur l'hôtel d'Aumont: La décoration du cabinet de toilette en 1776

Abstract

The building of the Hôtel d'Aumont was a truly exiting architectural project in the 1770s, reflecting the tastes and skills of Gabriel, Trouard, Pâris and Aumont, and representing one of the first neo-classical palaces with arabesque interiors. New research facilitates a re-evaluation of the cabinet in the apartment of the duc d'Aumont that has since been acquired and displayed by The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. On the basis of an examinations concerning the architectural context within it was placed originally, the possible use to which this octagonal space may have been put can be explained, and its decoration and its authorship suggested by considering the quality and style of its decoration as well as the duke's taste and patronage of individual artists.