ABSTRACT
In October 1669, the duchesse de Longueville celebrated the ‘great solitude’ in which she found herself during a retreat at the château de Trie, north-west of Paris; a respite almost certainly a orded by the privacy of her alcove within the pavillon of her apartment.1 e alcove, a recess within her chambers, was demarcated by two crimson ta eta curtains and contained a parade bed with a walnut frame, decorated with an aigrette of white feathers.2 Surrounding the bed and by the replace were two armchairs, two stools, a chair with a silk cover and a green and silver brocade chair among other furnishings. A prie-dieu was covered with a striped silk fabric. A daybed, two small pedestal tables and a grey armchair furnished a small cabinet within the alcove, and white and crimson ta eta curtains hung at two windows. In the sanctuary of her apartment, Longueville penned a letter to madame de Sablé sharing her plans to prolong her stay at the château, writing: ‘I am spending several months here, where I am in great solitude’.3
