Hôtel Jean de Pins

[2] Jean de Pins, senator to Milan (1515), French ambassador to Venice (1516-1520) and later Rome (1520-1522), returned to Toulouse to devote himself to the humanities and start the construction of his townhouse around 1530.

[2] Jean de Pins returned from Italy with a taste for architectural regularity and repetition (arcades) and an attraction for outdoor pleasures (galleries, garden).

[2] In 1542 the next owner, the merchant Jean de Nolet, started adapting it to his needs by building a shop with arcades opening on to the street and a side entrance to the courtyard.

In addition to the human figure, which is celebrated in the portrait medallions, the attentive observer will notice very precise references to classical architecture.

[2] Indeed, Jean de Pins instructed the mason working for him to sculpt the Ionic pilasters on the gallery according to the engraving of a treatise on classical architecture published in Italy in 1521, which he probably discovered during his travels.