Cabinet des Médailles part I: The Visible Part of the Iceberg
1 Comments Published by Cedric Benetti on Thursday, March 18, 2010 at 3/18/2010 05:09:00 PM.
Part I
A stroll through parts of an almost forgotten national treasure, the sometimes decrepid old national library of Paris, holding the oldest museum of France, as well as one of the oldest museums of Western Europe, which will soon be condemned to a more confined space: that of wooden crates stored away into the vaults of an establishment in "mutation", or as we would call it in terms of the Sarkonomy: "Streamlining the budget".In this first part we look at the visible 2 rooms of the venerable Cabinet des Médailles, and the state it is in, due to decades of complete voluntary neglect from the library's management. No funds are provided for the upkeep of the old museum, holding some of France's most prestigious treasures dating back to the collections of the kings and the clergy. Most of the display cases are not even lit anymore since the museum personel's request to buy new lightbulbs got rejected.
Things look grim for the future of this place, and yet, this is just the visible tip of an enormous cultural iceberg, because many of the rooms of the Cabinet are not accessible to the public, as is much of the bequested stock, locked away in dusty cabinets, which we will look at in more detail in the second part of this series.
We shall furthermore visit the hidden gems of the cabinet, such as the Salle de Luynes, the numismatic collections reference room, the library storages, director's office and the fascinating Salon Louis XV with its magnificient wood panelings.
Here we start inside the Cabinet's rooms, a short overview of the situation.
free phonecalls?
this cast iron gate will be torn down in the future projects of the "no-museum" library, in order to make way for a big...void. Since no one has yet clearly stated the purpose of the space the Cabinet now occupies.
the best way to secure a valuable coin collection?
quality seating is provided too...
the fire extinguisher displays are quite charming though
love the umbrella stand
Anyone here can have access to the light switchboard apparently...
who will pull the plug?
quality paint job
A sneak preview onto the Salle de Luynes, the subject of part II in this series.
Labels: Art, libraries, MUSEUMS, photography, SARKONOMICS
Incredible. I should think the government would find funds somewhere. Need to get wealthy benefactors to raise money.