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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Hotel de Donon is a private hotel built from 1575 in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris, at the initiative of Médéric de Donon, lord of Châtres-en-Brie and adviser to King Henry III. Located at 8 rue Elzévir, on former lands lotis by the religious of Sainte-Catherine-des-Écoliers, it is inspired by the architectural advances of Philibert Delorme and Jean Bullant, close to Donon. Its regular plan, with a rectangular courtyard and a body of houses between courtyard and garden, reflects the influence of the Marais hotels of the time.

Médéric de Donon, close to Henry III, was imprisoned in the Bastille in 1588 by the Catholic League before being released in 1593 under Henry IV. He died in his hotel in 1594. The building then passed to his son, then to his nephew, before being sold in 1640 to the family Le Mairat. In the 18th century, it fell to the Henault de Tourneville and then to the Bourgeois in 1798. It was converted into a 19th-century relationship building and was redesigned with glass galleries and a garage in the 1930s.

Purchased by the city of Paris in 1974, the hotel, then in poor condition, is restored to accommodate the collections of the couple Cognacq-Jay, founders of the Samaritan. Ranked a historical monument in 1984, it opened its doors in 1990 as a museum, regaining its original 16th century state. Its architecture, marked by high roofs and a spectacular peak, evokes the refinement of aristocratic life.

The hotel is distinguished by its symmetrical plan, side pavilions and 17th century wrought iron staircase. Interior decorations, such as marquetry-painted ceilings (room IV and north pavilion), date in part from Donon's era. The white and gold woodwork of the north pavilion and the large hall (room III) dates back to the early seventeenth century. Despite transformations, the ensemble retains a classic unit, typical of hotels in the Marais.

Protected since 1975, the Donon Hotel is a rare testimony to residential architecture of the Parisian Renaissance. Its history, linked to figures such as Médéric de Donon or the Le Mairat and Bourgeois families, reflects the social and urban changes of Paris from the 16th to the 20th century. Today, it houses the Cognacq-Jay Museum, dedicated to the 18th century arts.

Future

The City of Paris acquired it in 1974 and restored it in order to present the art collections of the 18th century of the Cognacq-Jay Museum, formerly installed boulevard des Capucines.

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