The decorative elements found in the three vaulted rooms of the gastronomic restaurant are contemporary with the building of the mansion at the end of the 17th century. Despite three different techniques – paintings and plasterworks in one, trompe l’oeil architecture in the second, and grey caissons in the third – the three decors have many similarities in their structure and design. They all bear witness to the wealth of the building’s owners, the de Boulhaco family, at the time of its construction. The restoration of these decorations required more than 18 months of work for the teams of the Ricou workshop.
The gypsery room or the freshness lounge
In the “gypsery room” there is a decoration of great aesthetic and semantic richness, probably dating back to the construction of the building (1676-1678). Emblematic of the place, it is known by many Montpelliérains. Framed by a majestic laurelled torus entirely gilded with gold leaf, it houses several paintings by Jean de Troy, and plasterworks attributed to Pierre Vaneau.
Decoration of foliage
The stripping of the vault carried out between 2016 and 2017 by Ricou’s workshop revealed a decoration composed of compartments lined with moldings painted in grisaille, a trompe-l’oeil painting technique that imitates the principle of bas-relief. The moldings contain scrolls in shades of blue populated with animals and fantastic creatures (birds, snakes, griffins…), decorated with candelabras and childlike faces.