Hôtel De Nevers (left Bank)

The Hôtel de Nevers (), later the Hôtel de Guénégaud (), then the Hôtel de Conti, was a French aristocratic townhouse (''hôtel particulier''), which was located on the Quai de Nevers (now the Quai de Conti), just east of the former Tour de Nesle on the site of the present day Hôtel des Monnaies in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. Construction began in 1580 to the designs of an unknown architect for Louis Gonzaga, Duke of Nevers, although it was never completed as intended. The large north pavilion on the River Seine was a prominent landmark of its part of the Left Bank. The ''hôtel'' was demolished sometime between 1768 and 1771.

Hôtel de Nevers

In 1572 Louis Gonzaga, Duke of Nevers, purchased from the French king, Charles IX, the Grand Nesle, an old townhouse located just east of the Tour de Nesle on the Left Bank of Paris. Nevers had it reconstructed around 1580, after which it became known as the Hôtel de Nevers. Although never completed, the new ''hôtel'' was greatly admired by contemporaries. Nevers' secretary, Blaise de Vigenère, a distinguished antiquarian and art historian, wrote that the house had a vault, built by Italian workmen, which was more grand than the one at the Baths of Caracalla. Although De Vigenère likely overstated the size, it must have been very impressive and was an architectural feature that was new to Paris.Thomson 1984, p. 137.

The Hôtel de Nevers was a prominent early example in Paris of the brick-and-stone style developed in the Île-de-France in the middle of the 16th century.Thomson 1984, p. 140. Other examples of brick-and-stone architecture in Paris include the Palais Abbatial of the Abbaye de Saint-Germain-des-Prés (1586), the Arsenal (1600), the houses around the Place Royale (1605–1610) and the Place Dauphine (1607–1616), the (c. 1610), the (1611), the Hôtel Berruyer and Hôtel Duret de Chevry, rue de Parc-Royal (1618–1620), the Hôtel de Sillery, the Hôtel de Rambouillet (1619–1621), the (1623), the Hôtel de Sainte-Mesme, the Hôtel de Ferrary, Hôtel Mégret de Sérilly, and the (1620-1623), the (1623–1625), and the Hôtel Duret de Chevry, rue des Petits-Champs (1635–1641) (Babelon 1991, pp. 238–239 (note 143)). The large terminal pavilion on the river was similar in proportions to the Louvre's Pavillon du Roi, readily visible, since it was almost directly north on the other side of the river. Although there is no documentation identifying the architect with certainty, the architectural historian David Thomson suggested Pierre Lescot or more likely Baptiste Androuet du Cerceau. Jean-Pierre Babelon agreed that Baptiste Androuet du Cerceau was probable, or possibly Thibaut Métezeau.

File:River façade of the Hôtel de Nevers in Paris – Gallica btv1b52508848c (adjusted).jpg, River façade in brick and stone (undated)

The ''corps de logis'' was laid out perpendicular to the river with its entrance to the west and a garden to the east. Because of problems acquiring land to the south (where the city wall of Philippe Auguste still stood), only the north terminal pavilion, the central pavilion and the wing connecting them were constructed. This is evident in a 1648 (or earlier) drawing by Israel Silvestre with a view from the west and a 1637 painting by Abraham de Verwer. Near the beginning of the 17th century, Claude Chastillon drew a view from the east, projecting how the completed ''hôtel'' would have looked.

File:Martellange, View of Paris 1620 – Ashmolean Museum (detail with Hôtel de Nevers) (adjusted).jpg, The Hôtel de Nevers in 1620 (detail from a view of Paris by architect Étienne Martellange)
File:Abraham de Verwer 'Le quartier du Petit Nesle avec l'Hôtel de Nevers, la tour de Nesle, la Grande Galerie du Louvre et le pont Royal (en bois), vus du Pont-Neuf' – Musée Carnavalet.jpg, The Hôtel de Nevers as painted in 1637 by
File:Chastillon, Garden façade of the Hôtel de Nevers – INHA NUM FOL EST 104 049 (adjusted).jpg, View of the garden side of the Hôtel de Nevers as projected by Claude Chastillon c. 1600, engraved by Jacques Poinssart

Israël Silvestre