Hôtel de Besenval

The historical façade of the single-floor residence Hôtel Chanac de Pompadour towards the courtyard, according to the plans of 1704 by Pierre-Alexis Delamair.

The origins of the Hôtel de Besenval go back to a single-floor residence, the Hôtel Chanac de Pompadour, erected in 1704 for a man of the Church, Abbé Pierre Chanac de Pompadour, designed by the celebrated architect Pierre-Alexis Delamair.

Delamair was very much in demand at the time. It was around the same time when he was involved in two other major building projects in Paris: the remodeling of the Hôtel de Clisson, lately known as the Hôtel de Guise, for François, Prince of Soubise which consequently became the Hôtel de Soubise and the construction of the Hôtel de Rohan for Armand Gaston Maximilien, Prince de Rohan.

The Hôtel Chanac de Pompadour is a special feature in Delamair's work, as it is the only single-floor hôtel particulier he ever designed.

After the death of Abbé Pierre Chanac de Pompadour in 1710, the property was inherited by his niece Marie-Françoise de Pompadour, Marquise d’Hauteford, and his grandniece Anne-Marie-Henriette d’Épinay, Marquise de Saint-Luc. They kept the residence until 1747, when they sold it to Madeleine-Angélique de Neufville-Villeroy, Duchesse de Boufflers, who sold it in 1750 to Louis-Guy Guérapin de Vauréal, the French ambassador in Madrid and Evêque de Rennes.[3][2]

Pierre Victor, Baron de Besenval de Brunstatt, in the Salon de compagnie in the Hôtel de Besenval, portrayed by Henri-Pierre Danloux in 1791. The three individual ormolu-mounted celadon porcelain vases which are visible on the right hand side of the mantelpiece each have an identical pendant on the left hand side of the mantelpiece. On 8 July 2021 these three pairs of vases were sold as pairs in three lots (lots 4, 5 and 6) by Christie’s in London in the The Exceptional Sale for a total of £1,620,000.

It was in 1767, when Pierre Victor, Baron de Besenval de Brunstatt, a Swiss military officer in French service, bought the property on the rue de Grenelle. The baron, who mainly grew up in France and who was very close to King Louis XVI and especially Queen Marie Antoinette, was a descendant of one of the richest and most powerful patrician families of Solothurn. Among other holdings, the family called the Palais Besenval and the Schloss Waldegg their own; the latter was also the birthplace of Pierre Victor de Besenval.[4][5]

The family de Besenval or von Besenval, as they were called in their hometown Solothurn, had long and close ties to the French royal family, the House of Bourbon, also because of their family ties to the highest circles in Poland.

Pierre Victor de Besenval de Brunstatt was the son of Jean Victor de Besenval de Brunstatt (1671–1736), who was a colonel in the regiment of the Swiss Guards of France. Jean Victor was a descendant from a family originally from Torgnon in the Aosta Valley who had risen socially in the service of King Louis XIV and had received a title of baron of the Holy Roman Empire from Emperor Leopold I. Pierre Victor’s mother was Katarzyna Bielińska (1684–1761), daughter of the Grand Marshal of Poland Kazimierz Ludwik Bieliński, a noble, politician and diplomat, and sister of Franciszek Bieliński, both Grand Marshals of the Crown in Poland under the reign of King Stanisław Leszczyński, where Pierre Victor’s father had served as French ambassador.

Pierre Victor’s mother became almost overnight an important figure at the royal court of France when on 15 August 1725 King Louis XV married Marie Leszczyńska, her cousin. It was at this time that the influence of the family de Besenval increased considerably at the royal court and that the de Besenval's possession of Brunstatt in the Alsace was erected into a French barony. Thus the family name de Besenval de Brunstatt.

As a child, Pierre Victor lived with his two uncles and further family members in Solothurn at the Palais Besenval and the family's country estate Schloss Waldegg. In 1726, when he was five years old, his mother brought him to France, where his parents already lived. A few years later, on 4 April 1731, at the age of nine, Pierre Victor joined, as a cadet, the regiment of the Swiss Guards, of which his father had become a colonel. [4][5][6][7]

The remains of the nymphaeum in the basement of the Hôtel de Besenval. The slightly different colours of the floor plates still indicate the location of the former pool (6.0m x 10.0m). Two original by Claude Michel signed rectangular terracotta preparatory reliefs for the decoration of the baron’s nymphaeum were rediscovered and sold by Christie’s in New York on 20 October 2022 as lot 35 in the sale The Ann & Gordon Getty Collection for USD 252,000. One depicting Cupid and Venus, Salmacis and Hermaphroditus and Leda and the Swan and the other depicting the bath of Venus.

At the beginning of the 1780s, the art-loving baron could already look back on an impressive military career. After being appointed military governor of Haguenau in 1766, he was made lieutenant-colonel of the Swiss Guards in 1767 and was promoted to commander-in-chief of the troops and garrisons of France in 1781. Pierre Victor de Besenval wished that his residence would reflect his achievements and his status. It was therefore only consequent, that in 1782 he employed the celebrated architect Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart to enlarge and transform his residence at the rue de Grenelle. Among Brongniart's additions were a gallery for the baron's constantly growing art collection, a dining room and an extravagance: a nymphaeum – a private bath with a pool in the antique style.

Thanks to his contacts with his friends at the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture of which he was named an Amateur-Honoraire in February 1784, the baron surrounded himself with quality French art works, signed by Le Nain, Charles-André van Loo, Pierre Mignard, Jean-Baptiste Greuze, Antoine Watteau and Henri-Pierre Danloux just to name a few. The baron also owned a version of La Gimblette (girl playing with a dog) by Jean-Honoré Fragonard. This painting hung in the adjoining room of his bedroom, now called the Salon de l’alcôve or Le Boudoir (it was said that the baron owned the first version). It was also thanks to these contacts to the academy, that he could win the sculptor Claude Michel for the decoration of his nymphaeum. Claude Michel created among others marble reliefs with erotic scenes, which later formed part of the interior decoration of the entrance hall of the Château de Digoine in Palinges and since 1987 form part of the collections of the Louvre (today plaster replicas can be seen in the entrance hall of the Château de Digoine).[4][3][8][9]

The nymphaeum with its suggestive decoration became very popular with the Parisian high society. Almost immediately rumors about scandalous behavior in the nymphaeum spread around the salons, and this only confirmed the baron's reputation as a lover and seducer. However, already contemporary observers noted that although the pool was filled with hot water, the basement itself was ice cold. So the nymphaeum might have had only a limited use as a place for amorous adventures. Furthermore, it was said that the pool was actually used only once, by a soldier of the Swiss Guards who shortly afterwards died of pneumonia.[3][10]

In July 1789, the baron was commander-in-chief of the Paris garrison in his capacity as military commander of the Île-de-France and governor of Paris. While still maintaining order in Paris in May by drastic measures, he withdrew the troops from Paris on 12 July in the hope of avoiding a bloodbath, which however made possible the taking of the Bastille on 14 July. This event has since been considered the beginning of the French Revolution. The baron, accused of high treason by the aristocrats and of the crime of lèse-nation by the revolutionaries, had no choice but to flee to Switzerland, his home country.[11][6]

The Baron de Besenval was taken to the Château de Brie-Comte-Robert to be imprisoned there on 10 August 1789.

The baron was not only hated by the revolutionary masses as a soldier, but also suspected as a close friend of Queen Marie Antoinette. When the revolutionary masses demanded his head, the baron obtained permission from the king to leave for Switzerland, where he intended to retire to his country estate, Schloss Waldegg, near Solothurn. But the baron was recognized near Provins, arrested and imprisoned at the Château de Brie-Comte-Robert on 10 August 1789 by revolutionary troops during his trip. It was only through the intervention of the Geneva banker and French finance minister Jacques Necker that the baron escaped death and was eventually released on 1 March 1790 after winning his case before the court of the Grand Châtelet, thanks to the closing argument of his lawyer, Raymond Desèze. That same day the baron returned to his residence on the rue de Grenelle, protected by the Swiss Guards and escorted by a crowd of friends.

Weakened by his detention, the baron died on 2 June 1791 after dinner in the bedroom at his residence in Paris surrounded by twenty five friends and relatives including his mistress Catherine-Louise, Marquise de La Suze, née de Santo-Domingo (1757–1826), wife of Louis-François de Chamillart, Marquis de La Suze (1751–1833), and Joseph-Alexandre Pierre, Vicomte de Ségur.[11][3][6]

La chambre du maître, the former bedroom of the Baron de Besenval. The baron's bureau plat, which was mentioned in the inventory of 1787 as being placed in this room and which was designed by the ébéniste E. J. Cuvellier of Paris in around 1765, was sold by Christie’s in London on 26 May 2021 as lot 30 in the sale Collection Baroness Marion Lambert for EUR 462,500. The bureau plat once formed part of the collection of Gustave de Rothschild.

Pierre Victor de Besenval, who was never married, bequeathed the usufruct of his residence on the rue de Grenelle to his lifelong friend Marshal Philippe Henri, Marquis de Ségur, whose second son, Joseph-Alexandre Pierre, Vicomte de Ségur, was in fact the baron's illegitimate son, which was no secret within the family. The baron’s relationship with his best friend's wife, Louise-Anne de Vernon, Marquise de Ségur (1729–1778), which lasted until her death, and the illegitimate son did not cloud the relationship between the spouses or between Besenval and his best friend. But on the contrary. The three enjoyed being together. The baron spent a lot of time in the château of the Marquis de Ségur in Romainville where he could pursue another passion: the art of horticulture (the last remains of the Château de Ségur were demolished in 2017). Furthermore, it was the intention of both the Baron de Besenval and the Marquis de Ségur that one day the baron's son would inherit the Hôtel de Besenval. Consequently, the baron bequeathed the bare ownership of the Hôtel de Besenval to his biological son, Joseph-Alexandre Pierre, Vicomte de Ségur.[12][13]

During the French Revolution, the family de Ségur was largely dispossessed. Consequently, the family was in need of money. Therefore, the Marquis de Ségur and the Vicomte de Ségur decided to sell the entire contents of the Hôtel de Besenval at auction on 10 August 1795.

Already in 1780, the Baron de Besenval had bought a hôtel particulier on 6, rue Chantereine for his son, the Vicomte de Ségur. The Marquis de Ségur lived in the Hôtel de Ségur on 9, rue Saint-Florentin. Thus, neither the Marquis de Ségur nor the Vicomte de Ségur had the intention to move into the Hôtel de Besenval. Instead they decided to let it to Francesco-Saverio, Conte di Carletti (1740–1803), the Minister of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany in Paris. However, only a few years later, on 14 October 1797, the Vicomte de Ségur sold the Hôtel de Besenval to Marie-Elisabeth-Olive, Comtesse de Moreton de Chabrillan, née Frottier de la Coste-Messeliére (1761–1807), whose family also owned the Château de Digoine in Palinges. The family kept the Hôtel de Besenval in their possession until 1925.[3][12][14][13]

It was in 1862, during the time when the Hôtel de Besenval belonged to the family of the Marquis de Montholon-Sémonville, descendants of the Comtesse de Moreton de Chabrillan, that the corps de logis was altered to its present appearance after the design of the architect Chabrier. The house was enlarged with another floor and an attic with a comble à la Mansart.

The family was very close to the French imperial family, the House of Bonaparte. Charles Tristan, Marquis de Montholon, was a general under Emperor Napoleon and followed him into exile on 8 August 1815 on Saint Helena. Therefore, it doesn’t come as a surprise, that between 1855 and 1870 the Princes Lucien and Joseph Bonaparte, descdendants of Lucien Bonaparte, younger brother of the emperor, resided at the Hôtel de Besenval.[3][8]

A novelty at the time: Baron de Besenval's dining room, designed around 1782 by Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart in the neoclassical style. Dining rooms only became fashionable in the late 18th century. Before that the dining table could be placed alternately in any room – even the bedroom which in those days was also regarded as a reception room.

From the 1920s to the mid 1930s the Hôtel de Besenval served as the seat of various international peace arbitration courts. In the late 1930s the residence belonged to a certain Madame Baumann, a Swiss national.

When the Hôtel de Besenval was for sale again in 1938, the Swiss Confederation bought it as their new embassy building and residence of the ambassador, moving there from their former premises at 51, Avenue Hoche. It was Minister Walter Stucki who was in charge of the purchase and the supervision of the serious renovation work of the existing buildings, as well as the addition of an administrative building bordering the west court, opposite the former coach house and stables, where up to 18 horses found space in Besenval's time. The work was planned and carried out by the architects Moreillon & Taillens.

The offices of the Embassy of the Swiss Confederation opened in January 1939. A few months later, World War II broke out. In June 1940, after the Battle of France and the capture of Paris, the Hôtel de Besenval was transformed into a consulate. After the war in 1945, with the arrival of Minister Carl J. Burckhardt, the Hôtel de Besenval once again became the Embassy of the Swiss Confederation.[3][15][16][17]

The layout and the decoration of the entrance hall as well as the state rooms have changed little since the time of the Baron de Besenval. The designs of the architects Pierre-Alexis Delamair and Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart are still predominant, especially when it comes to the wood panelling. These rooms are still decorated in the styles of their time: Régence, Louis XV, Louis XVI and Neoclassicism. However, it was in the first half of the 19th century that the family de Montholon-Sémonville transformed the little adjoining room to the baron’s former bedroom into a Salon de l’alcôve with wood panelling in the rococo revival style with four medallion paintings in the style of François Boucher embedded in the wall panelling. Today, this room is also called Le Boudoir. It was with great respect that the Swiss Confederation renovated these rooms after acquiring the property in 1938, which had been already a listed building for 10 years at the time.

Furthermore, from the very beginning, it was also important to the Swiss Confederation to equip the state rooms with appropriate furniture from the relevant eras and styles. And if even possible, to get some of the original furniture back that had once belonged to the furnishings of the Hôtel de Besenval.[18][19][17]

The enfilade in the Hôtel de Besenval seen from the Salle à manger, through the Salon de la tapisserie to the Salon des perroquets. In the window niche is one of the six chairs of the baron's original furniture ensemble visible.

A few years after the baron's death in 1791, the baron's furniture, works of art and further belongings from the Hôtel de Besenval were sold at auction in Paris on 10 August 1795. However, already during the baron's lifetime some pieces of furniture as well as paintings and further works of art from the Hôtel de Besenval were sent to his country estate in Switzerland, Schloss Waldegg, including a furniture ensemble consisting of a sofa and six chairs painted in the so-called gris Trianon (a colour named after the Petit Trianon) and covered in beige fabric embroidered with scenes from the fables of Jean de La Fontaine.

The sofa and the six chairs were bought by the Swiss Confederation in 1938 from the patrician family von Sury, who had bought the Schloss Waldegg on 6 February 1865 from some of the last members of the family de Besenval (with Amédée de Besenval (1862–1927), the main line of the family died out in 1927. However, the House of Broglie are the descendants of the French line of the family de Besenval). The furniture was brought back to the Hôtel de Besenval, where again it forms part of the furnishings in the Salon de la tapisserie.[18][20][21][22]

As in the field of the arts, the baron was also a patron in the field of botany. In 1782, Pierre-Joseph Buc'hoz named a plant after the baron to thank him for his support. Unfortunately, this plant had already received its scientific name a few years earlier and is therefore not known today as Besenvalia senegalensis but as Oncoba spinosa.[4]