Guigone de Salins

A well-known philanthropist in her time, she founded the Hospices de Beaune in 1443 with her husband Nicolas Rolin, chancellor to the Duke of Burgundy.

Salins furnished the rooms of the hospital with art so that the sick could feel as though they were being treated in a comfortable, even palatial environment.

After the death of her husband in 1462, Salins continued to direct the Hôtel-Dieu until the end of her life in 1470, and it remained open to serve the poor and sick until the 1960s.

Guigone de Salins is represented in Rogier van der Weyden's polyptych altarpiece Jugement dernier, which she and her husband commissioned.

The tiles in the hall of the poor and in the chapel of the Hôtel-Dieu honor the love of Nicolas Rolin for his wife: it shows their monogram and motto "Seulle", signifying that she was the sole woman in the thoughts of her husband.