L'hôtel de Besenval
Subtitle: siège de l'Ambassade de Suisse en France
By: Jean-Jacques de Dardel ; avant-propos de Hélène Carrère d'Encausse
Series: Empreintes suisses en France; Empreintes suisses en France
Publisher: Labor et Fides
Published: 2013
Place of publication: Genève
Language: fre
Number of pages: 99
ISBN-13: 9782830915136
Subjects: Embassy buildings; Interior decoration; Buildings, structures; Hôtel de Besenval (Paris, France)
Description: Today's Swiss Embassy in France holds the walls of a beautiful house very close to L'Hôtel national des Invalides in Paris. Its current host, Ambassador Jean-Jacques de Dardel, presents the history of the mansion through the portrait of its most famous owner, Pierre-Victor Besenval, commander of the Swiss Guard who lived and beautified the place during the eighteenth century. The chronicle of his life and the many amenities that he ordered plunges the reader into the political and gallantry of an era of artistic architectural history. At the Revolution, Benseval knew the torments of an officer of the royal armies reduced to the Swiss Guard, torn between his loyalty to the King and a form of restraint won the respect of the revolutionaries. After his death, the house passed into the hands of various French families, before falling into Swiss hands again in the 1930s, when the Confederation was seeking to acquire a new residence.
Notes: Cover title.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 97).