The architect Rudy Ricciotti, author of the MuCEM in Marseille, has been chosen to build the future Grand Siècle museum dedicated to 17th century France in Saint-Cloud, the Hauts-de-Seine department, chaired by by Georges Siffredi (LR).
In addition to the MuCEM, Rudy Ricciotti is known for having designed the Jean Bouin stadium in Paris and the Islamic arts department of the Louvre in Paris.
This museum project, financed by the department, in the former royal barracks in the Parc de Saint-Cloud, was initiated following the donation of the former head of the Louvre, Pierre Rosenberg, a great collector of works of art, in much of the 17th century.
“This museum, for which we are devoting an investment of 100 million euros, is further testimony to our desire to transmit culture to as many people as possible, because we are convinced that it is not a luxury, but the form the highest level of education”
, explains Georges Siffredi during the presentation of the project.
Opening to the public planned for 2026
The project provides for the identical restoration of the two main buildings of the royal barracks and the construction of a new building, with an exhibition space.
“The Grand Siècle Museum is a delicate project that it is up to us to carry out with moderation and precision.
Any modification made here, in a search for balance and lightness, is the result of a meticulous, almost surgical gesture,”
explains Rudy Ricciotti.
The museum
"will approach 17th century society through all the arts and all the media in all its aspects, including those that annoy"
, said the academic Alexandre Gady, director of the museum's prefiguration mission, citing in particular the Black Code which authorized France to use slaves in its colonies.
The museum will present drawings, paintings, sculptures, furniture, engravings, medals and works of art... a complete panorama of French civilization of the 17th century, understood as a long period, from Henri IV to the Regency (1589 -1723).
Construction is due to begin in the spring of 2023, with the museum opening to the public scheduled for 2026.