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Treasures of the Kingdom of Lotharingia, Charlemagne’s legacy

Alexandre Lafore Friday 8 September 2023 All the versions of this article: English , français

Draguignan, Hôtel départemental des expositions, from 1 July to 8 October 2023

: 1. View of the Hôtel Départemental des Expositions (HDE Var) in Draguignan
Photo: Nicolas Lacroix; See the image in its page

Inaugurated in summer 2021 with the hero Ulysses, the Hôtel Départemental des Expositions (HDE Var) in Draguignan in the Var département, in the south of France, has quickly established itself as a singular cultural facility: installed in the former Archives départementales building constructed at the end of the 19th century (ill. 1) near the very imposing Palais Préfectoral, it has quickly got up to cruising speed and now hosts two events a year. This brand new flagship of the Var’s cultural policy boasts resources worthy of the ambitions of the Département du Var, as visitors to the town centre can immediately guess, where the municipal museum is also preparing to reopen its doors - this autumn - following a major renovation project. With 650 m2 arranged in three levels, the setting is relatively modular, even if it dictates the exhibition itinerary, while the vertical circulation is sheltered in the discreet concrete extension clad in terracotta, as explained in this article.

: 2. Reims, c. 1135-1140
Head of the funerary statue of King Lothaire
Polychromed limestone - 28 x 19.5 x 16 cm
Reims, Musée Saint-Rémi
Photo: Alexandre Lafore; See the image in its page

Suitable for all types of works, including the heaviest and most fragile, the rooms thus ensure good conservation conditions for the treasures that have come from all over Europe for this new exhibition. It’s impossible not to wonder what could have bitten the organisers, given that the subject matter seems (on the face of it) to be very unapproachable for a summer audience: these "Treasures of the Kingdom of Lotharingia" follow on from "The Fabulous History of Toys", "Mummies, the Paths to Eternity" and "The Table, a French Art". These previous exhibitions, which were both attractive and serious, had already been entrusted to renowned external curators - including Anne Monnier, Philippe Charlier and Pierre Provoyeur - from other institutions. This time around, the HDE Var has called on Isabelle Bardiès-Fronty, general curator at the Musée de Cluny, where she is preparing to launch a highly-anticipated "Voyage dans le cristal de roche" after exploring "Merovingian times" in 2016-2017 (see article). So it was time to move on to the Carolingian period, even if the memory of the dynasty remained with us for a long time, as can still be seen in some of the retrospective pieces (ill. 2) on display here.

: 3. Rome or Arles, late 4th century
Sarcophagus of Louis the Pious
Seven fragments of the front, marble bas-reliefs - 55 x 230 cm
Metz, Musée de la Cour d’Or
Photo: Musée de la Cour d’Or; See the image in its page

A veritable grey area in both history and geography, Lotharingia probably doesn’t mean much to visitors, who have to start by recalling a few forgotten episodes from their history lessons, such as…

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