Detail of the Right Bank, from the map of Paris c. 1540, known as the...

Together with the map of Sebastian Münster and the 'Plan de la Gouache', this is one of the oldest plans of Paris. The original map was woven as a tapestry c. 1571 for Cardinal Charles de Bourbon (1523-90). In 1571 he was made Lieutenant-General of Paris and Ile de France and his heraldic arms are displayed here. Later the tapestry passed to the Guise family and was kept at the Hôtel de Clisson. The tapestry disappeared during the French Revolution but a copy had been made for the French antiquary, François de Gaignières (1642-1715) écuyer (equerry) to Louis Joseph, duke of Guise (1650-71). This map shows Paris after the beginning of the dismantling in 1533 (on the orders of François Premier) of the inner Right Bank Enceinte (city wall) of Philippe II Auguste but the sections near the Louvre and in the 3rd and 4th Arrondissements are clearly visible on the map.