This section evokes the wealthy homes of the Italian Renaissance, with stained glass painted in grisaille and silver stain, lavishly carved furniture decorated with colored marble or polychrome paint, and tapestries with “grotesque” motifs and carved or painted wood paneling. On all manner of objects, the decorative repertoire was adapted to the new taste. The pieces in this room also illustrate the wide range of furniture items that existed in France and Italy in the second half of the sixteenth century: an armoire à deux corps (cupboard on chest) from the Ile-de-France region with a broken pediment; two dressers carved with sphinxes; terminal figures and mirrors in the style of cabinetmaker Hugues Sambin; a dresser thought to be by Androuet du Cerceau; an extending dining table. There are many kinds of seats too, incluing caquetoires (or “conversation chairs”), armchairs (chaises à bras), folding seats and sgabelli (inspired by stools); the sgabelli in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, thought to have come from the Doge’s Palace in Venice, feature a rich polychrome decoration with masks, garlands of fruit, scrolls, cherubs and long-haired female figures at the sides of the chair backs.

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