# Main ward of the hospital [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [ARCHITECT, Flemish]() - Date: 1451-1500 - Technique: Photo ## Commentary The Hôtel-Dieu was founded on 4 August 1443 by Nicolas Rolin, the Duke's Chancellor, and his wife Guigone de Salins, when Burgundy was ruled by Duke Philip the Good. It was intended to be a refuge for the poor. The main ward, called the Room of the Poors, measures 50x14x16 meters. On the ceiling, the exposed painted frame is in an upside down boat-skiff shape and in each beam are sculpted caricatures of some important Beaune inhabitants. The pieces of furniture were brought together in 1875 by the son in law of the architect Eugene Viollet-le-Duc. Each bed could welcome two patients. The hospital at Beaune is one of the largest and best preserved of medieval hospitals. Originally there would have been simply rows of beds without canopies. ## Related artworks - [Belfry]() - [Exterior view]() - [Exterior view]() - [Exterior view]() - [Exterior view]() - [Exterior view]() - [Exterior view]() - [Exterior view]() - [Exterior view]() - [Exterior view]() - [Exterior view]() - [Exterior view]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()