Arts En Cour : Les Garde-Meubles En Europe, Xvie-Xxie Siècles

As an institution serving the furnishing of the buildings of people exercising power over citizens, the Garde-Meuble has been at the heart of the magnificence of the decorative pomp of palaces, receptions, festivals and public events since the Middle Ages. It is involved in the distribution of works of art in interiors and court etiquette, and allows artists and craftsmen to express their skills, while at the same time stimulating creative and decorative innovations throughout history.

Each European country has chosen different organisations for this structure which applies to decoration, creation, maintenance, storage and restoration, in order to make visible an adequate decorative art and to develop ceremonials adapted to the protocol ranks.

This book offers a history and an inventory of the European Garde-meubles that still exist and allows us to understand the protagonists and the ways in which they operate.