Museo Nacional de Arte Decorativo

This guide to the Museo Nacional de Arte Decorativo in Buenos Aires follows the Chilean diplomat Matías Errázuriz and his wife Josefina de Alvear, who returned from Belle Époque Paris in 1911 determined to out-Paris Paris itself. It traces architect René Sergent's single rule for their mansion — that nothing may look unbalanced — and the lengths taken to keep every room symmetrical, from painted-wood books to a hidden door facing a bust of Louis XIV. You'll also hear about the royal clock, centuries-old tapestries, a Rodin bronze, and the afternoon Anna Pavlova danced among live swans in the garden.