Reopening of the 18th-century French Decorative Arts
This gallery has now been reopened to the public after a brief period of closure due to the need for renovation of the room’s panels and for the resizing of part of its existing supports.
The space was rethought and designed around a central axis that features large works such as Portrait of Marshal Richelieu by Jean-Marc Nattier, two tapestries from the Royal Manufactory of Beauvais and a pair of wardrobes by Louis XIV’s master cabinetmaker, André-Charles Boulle, presented here for the first time as a pair. A more dynamic dialogue was sought between the exhibited works, which include furniture, tapestries, fabrics, painting, sculpture and bronzes. The gallery’s overall scenographic effect will transport the visitor to the sumptuous universe of 18th-century French Decorative Arts, a particularly significant part of the Calouste Gulbenkian collection.