The Hôtel Lallemant museum is located in Bourges, in the Cher department.
Located in the historic heart of the city, rue Bourbonnoux, it houses collections devoted to decorative arts (furniture, earthenware, etc.) and fine arts.
The establishment is located in a remarkable private mansion built at the end of the 15th century for the Lallemant family who had made their fortune in commerce, and some of whose representatives held municipal and royal offices. She was known to be linked to many artists of the time.
The building was built on ancient ramparts and from 1506, Italianate decorations were fitted out. It overlooked a lower courtyard where the main entrance was and an upper courtyard (current visitors' entrance). Inside, a spiral staircase provided communication between the different parts of the residence.
Acquired by the city in 1826, classified as a Historic Monument in 1840, the Lallemant hotel is a small museum in itself on an architectural and artistic level, an example of the first French Renaissance. The finesse of the sculpted decorations (particularly in the bays and turrets of the upper courtyard) and the coffered ceilings are magnificent.
The collection of the museum installed in this choice setting is made up of furniture (16th and 17th centuries) such as marquetry or Chinese lacquer furniture as well as decorative or utilitarian objects but of very noble workmanship: earthenware, enamels, ivories, glassware, clocks, toys from the Belle Époque.
The pieces are displayed in such a way as to appear in symbiosis with the elegance and intimate character of the place. This same concern governs the presentation of paintings by artists from the 15th to the 18th century, including works by Tournier, Vouet and Nicolas Poussin.
If the beautiful building can be seen from the outside, the museum for its part is closed to the public for an indefinite period as part of an overall project to restructure the museums of the city of Bourges.
Information on +33 2 48 57 82 45.
