Le Moyen Âge du 19e Siècle

France (Paris?, )Reliquary of the Umbilicus of Christ, 1407, Musée du Cluny, Paris.

In the aftermath of the Revolution, 19th century France rediscovered - and reinterpreted - the Middle Ages. Cultivating a romantic reverie, forging technological advances, and forming large collections, the French drew inspiration from the Middle Ages. Copies, pastiches, composite works, and fakes were produced in significant numbers. This exhibition allows for confrontations, comparing certain medieval objects with their 19th-century "resonances."

This exhibition focuses on the arts of luxury such as goldsmithery, enamelwork, ivories, and precious fabrics, all of which saw technical rediscoveries. In period from the 1820s and 1830s until the eve of the First World War, collectors, creation and restoration workshops, and forgers, were the main players, operating around a rapidly expanding art market. Paris, at the centre of these developments, emerged as the world capital of luxury arts.