Luc-Vincent Thiéry

[3][2] In 1788 a new guide was published, similar in form to the Almanach du Voyageur à Paris, but with a classification of the subjects in alphabetical order.

[3][2] Luc-Vincent Thiéry has documented himself with specialists for his publications, such as the secretaries of the academies, the rector of the university, the priests of the churches, the superiors of the convents and the architects of the monuments.

Thiéry took his chance and, accompanied by the baron, took an extensive tour of this hôtel particulier on the Rue de Grenelle.

[4] Thanks to the precise descriptions, Thiéry's guide is still a reference work for museums, art dealers and auction houses today.

One of the pieces was the former writing desk of the Baron de Besenval, which was sold at Christie's in London on 25 May 2021, as lot 30, for EUR462,500.

However, the highlight in this context was sold two months later, on 8 July 2021, by the same auction house: The Baron de Besenval Garniture, a six-piece set made of Chinese celadon porcelain mounted with French gilt-bronze.

[10][11][12][13][14] Years earlier, it was this iconic portrait of the Baron de Besenval itself that was sold by Sotheby’s in New York on 27 May 2004, as lot 35, for US$2,472,000.

It shows the baron in his picture cabinet at the Hôtel de Besenval to which Thiéry had privileged access and the contents of which he describes meticulously in his 1787 publication.

According to Thiéry, the baron's cabinet was primarily renowned for the remarkable collection of contemporary and earlier pictures of the Flemish, Italian and French schools.

However, there is an engraving based on this painting, executed by Charles Bertony in 1783 and dedicated to the Baron de Besenval.

[9][14][15][16] Luc-Vincent Thiéry also reports a beautiful commode in the baron's bedroom, the front of which is decorated with inlaid stone reliefs of flowers and fruits (pietra dura).

The frontispiece of the first edition of Luc-Vincent Thiéry's Guide des amateurs et des étrangers voyageurs à Paris, ou Description raisonnée de cette Ville, de sa Banlieue, et de tout ce qu'elles contiennent de remarquable, published in 1787.
Le Baron de Besenval dans son salon de compagnie at the Hôtel de Besenval , by Henri-Pierre Danloux (1791). In 1786, the baron granted Luc-Vincet Thiéry privileged access to this picture cabinet . Colin B. Bailey notes that this intimate picture "deserves to be known as the single oil painting produced in the 18th century of a French private collector in his picture cabinet." Today the portrait is part of the collections of the National Gallery . [ 4 ] [ 5 ] [ 6 ] [ 7 ] [ 8 ] [ 9 ]
One of the rare engravings of the limited edition of the Besenval version of La Gimblette ( clothed version) by Charles Bertony, dedicated to the Baron de Besenval (dedication to the baron and imprint of his family coat of arms). Published in 1783.