ABSTRACT
Among the buildings which house the National Archives in Paris are the remains of the hotel Clisson, the Paris residence of the dukes of Guise. To its rear, the severe, military aspect of the edifice reflects something of its sixteenth-century past when, in the civil wars, it had served as a citadel in the capital. The building had seen more glorious moments, especially in 1559-60 when the Guise family was at the height of its prestige. The wealth and interests of its owners were best depicted in the fine chapel, built in the 1550s. The decor included a painting by Primaticcio of the Adoration of the Magi in which Francois, duke of Guise, appears as one of the three kings, proudly standing (rather than kneeling!) before the Almighty.l A few hundred yards away stood the most elaborate of the four houses in Paris owned by the duke of Montmorency. Although now destroyed, its magnificence can be reconstructed from contemporary inventories which described the forty splendidly furnished apartments, the sumptuous library and the marvellous collections of linen and glass, a testimony to the wealth and interests of the Montmorency family.2
