From this Wednesday, May 4 and until Saturday, September 24, old and modern works with illuminations, letters and gilded bindings make up the collection unveiled to visitors.
If there are objects that make up the very essence of the Médard museum in Lunel, it is books. Or rather, should we more judiciously say, the book. Because between the walls of the cultural building located on the Place des Martyrs-de-la-Résistance, it is as much the content as the container that is highlighted during the exhibitions that follow one another.
A pedagogical vocation always in sight
“We are not only interested in the stories, the novels, the words that make up a book, but also in its manufacturing, decoration and formatting techniques”, intervenes Claudio Galleri, director of the Médard museum since 2015, on his behalf and that of his six collaborators. This same team which finished installing, yesterday Tuesday May 3, the last elements of the new exhibition entitled Golden Bookwhose opening takes place this Wednesday, May 4, from 7 p.m.
The precious metal will thus be honored for five months in the unfolding of a hundred pieces and works highlighted in a worked scenography. Gold, which can be found in illuminations and the letters and writings of books, the oldest of which dates from the 12th century. But also the gold in the bindings of famous houses, in particular Simier, of Paris, of which Louis Médard was a fervent customer… just like the king.
A brilliant exhibition therefore, made up of the museum’s collection but also loans from the Carré d’art library in Nîmes, the Méjanes library in Aix-en-Provence, the Émile-Zola media library and the Fabre museum in Montpellier, to which are added old manufacturing tools, a tactile space, explanatory panels and video documentaries on binding and gilding techniques.
Ancestral technique
“All with a view to accessibility for all audiences, from all walks of life and of all ages.insists Claudio Galleri, who has always defended the educational vocation of the structure he directs. The presence of gold in books has always attracted the eye and curiosity. Both children and adults. There is a part of beauty, mystery, even a divine connotation around this precious metal, especially in prayer books like those visible in the exhibition. It’s a theme that is very popular and should appeal to fans of the genre as well as families.”
Who will also be able to discover, through the pieces produced and exhibited by the participants in the 5th International Art Binding Prize, that this ancestral technique remains, if not a flamboyant activity, at least a passion which is still practiced in some workshops and private houses.
Focus on three exceptional works
Among the many pieces that make up the new exhibition Golden Book, to be discovered at the Médard museum, three works deserve that we linger a little more on their showcase. Visitors will be able to admire the work Psalter, it De Gellonea manuscript in Latin with tempera paint, ink and gold on a parchment dating from the 12th century (the oldest piece in the exhibition, Médard museum collection).
Also to see, Platoby Iodoco Badio (1520), bound in 1839 by Alphonse Simier with corner plate decorated with interlacing and gilding iron technique (Médard museum collection), as well as a prayer book in Latin with tempera paint, ink and gold on 15th century parchment (Carré d’art de Nîmes library collection).
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