Mirabilis Exhibition at the Palais des Papes, Avignon

The museums in Avignon - Calvet, Lapidaire, Requien, Petit Palais and the Palais du Roure - offer a rare diversity of works in the fields of human sciences, natural sciences, archaeology, Fine Arts, decorative arts, painting and sculpture, from every period. The contours of these collections which know no borders include groups of works from Europe, Asia, Africa, the Americas, Oceania -China, Cambodia, Turkey, Syria, India, Easter Island and elsewhere.

Avignon collections are estimated to hold over one million two hundred thousand works of art, objects and documents, of which no more than ten per cent are open to the public. The setting for this exhibit is organised in a central, solar manner around a Period Room, a title which refers to the cabinets of curiosities in vogue during the Enlightenment, resonating strongly with the Baroque universe of designer Christian Lacroix.

This central theme enabled Christian Lacroix to “invent” a universe of curiosities featuring the collections selected by the curators. He established connections between the collections and cast new, cross-cutting light on the riches in Avignon collections as displayed in the magnificent setting of the Papal Chapel. The installation contains “chapels” dedicated to each of the museums represented here and the significant works that express their substance. Above and beyond the aesthetics and the strong impact of the staging designed by Christian Lacroix, this exhibit reveals the history of the collections in Avignon and stimulates visitors’ curiosity to further explore the museums in their own settings.

Exhibition included in the price of the ticket to the Palais des Papes.