Exterior view
by LEGRAND, Etienne-François, Photo
The h�tel was built from 1776 to 1792 for Alexandre de Galliffet, a baron grown rich from his plantations in the Caribbean. The building is now home to the Italian Cultural Institute in Paris.
Virtually the whole court fa�ade is a stately temple front over two storeys with a horizontal top, a scheme more appropriate to the decorum of public buildings than the residence of a social climber.
The picture shows a detail of the garden front.