The new galleries of the Department of Decorative Arts, reopened in June 2014 after a lengthy period of renovation, have been reorganized under the general theme “The French Art of Living from Louis XIV to Louis XVI”. On this occasion, one of two multimedia displays previously installed in Room 95 in the Richelieu Wing has been transferred to a gallery presenting the arts of the table.
These new exhibition spaces, comprising 33 galleries occupying more than 2000 square meters on the second floor of the north wing of the Cour Carrė, are devoted to an ingenious presentation of the French arts and crafts that dazzled all of Europe from the reign of Louis XIV to the French Revolution.
The concept of the “period room” makes possible a curatorial presentation that is more thematic than chronological, vividly recreating the interiors of the noble palaces of the period rather than simply arranging items in glass cases, and enchanting visitors with the recollection that the Louvre was of course a palace before it became a museum.
A series of multilingual multimedia displays have been perfectly integrated into the galleries, offering visitors from around the world information that will facilitate their appreciation of the works on display.
© 2014 Musée du Louvre / Antoine Mongodin
The display “The French Table”, installed facing an actual recreation of a table set with period tableware, invites visitors to discover how a meal unfolded at in the home of an aristocratic family of the era. Multimedia information offers a bridge to a more vivid understanding of how such beautiful 18th-century table services were actually used in daily life.
© 2014 Musée du Louvre / Antoine Mongodin |
|
|
|
© 2014 Musée du Louvre / Antoine Mongodin |
|