L'Ameublement de l'Hôtel de Pitsembourg au milieu du XVIIe siècle Communication faite en séance du 26 avril 1901

In this richly detailed lecture the speaker guides listeners through the surviving 17th‑century inventories of the Hôtel de Pitsembourg, using the 1656 record as a roadmap to the palace’s rooms and furnishings. He paints a vivid picture of the “Trappenye” office, where a modest collection of religious paintings, heraldic pedestals and a half‑stove coexist with meticulously labeled filing cabinets that once housed the Order’s precious documents—documents that were later lost to fire. The narrative then moves to the adjoining bedroom, describing a sumptuous tapestry‑bordered bed, an array of embroidered curtains, and a series of unidentified canvases that hint at the artistic tastes of the household.

Beyond the private chambers, the talk touches on the master brewer’s suite and the chapel’s inventory, noting the blend of functional objects and decorative art that defined the era’s interior aesthetics. Listeners will gain a nuanced sense of how material culture, archival practice, and personal grief intersected in the mid‑1600s, all conveyed through the meticulous eye of a historian who once presented these findings to an eager academic audience.