Musèe Les Arts Décoratifs

A study on the correct valorisation of works of art

Paris - France

Application

Indoor

Location

Paris - France

Lighting Design

Emmanuel Clair - Light Cibles

Photo

Nicolas Cardin

Musèe Les Arts Décoratifs

New technologies and attention to detail

Located within the Louvre Palace, the Les Arts Dècoratifs museum is the sixth most visited museum in France. Founded in the 19th century, it houses thousands of objects and works by collectors, offering a complete panorama of the decorative arts from the Middle Ages to the 21st century. Linea Light Group, in collaboration with lighting designer Emmanuel Clair, has brought back to life the most difficult element to preserve in a work of art, colour.

Hi-res images

.zip

The main objective of the project is the replacement of the old lighting fixtures, which are now obsolete, with the aim of restoring not only the atmosphere and aesthetics of the exhibition halls, but above all the colour rendering of the works: the colours are now perceived with a remarkable contrast while maintaining a harmony in the work itself. The greatest challenge was to pay attention to the specificity of each individual work and the characteristics of the environment: the not easy task of illuminating works of decorative intent, of varying nature and different sizes and finishes, within a single environment that itself needs suitable light for the visitor's enjoyment. The focus was not only on the works, but on the entire visitor experience, through a harmonious dimension of light.

Iris_T is the flagship product of the project, thanks to the new Ultra HD diodes, developed in collaboration with CREE (L.E.D. UHD CXB 1816), it is able to recover all the colour ranges for a colour rendering of 98.7%.

In the various rooms we find the product with adjustable optics, which together with Vektor, equipped with a shaper, creates a soft and theatrical light by concentrating the beam of light only where necessary on the works, gradually fading towards the edges and frames: in this way the paintings seem to shine with their own light emerging from the walls in shadow.
The large showcases dedicated to ceramics, glassware and statuettes have been illuminated with Reika: the linear profile with asymmetric optics washes the objects placed on the shelves without dazzling the observer, suitably dimmed individually to ensure adequate light according to the size of the showcase.
Xenia, on the other hand, is applied in a special installation dedicated to some decorative glass panes positioned in front of the room's windows: when the sun goes down, Xenia's light takes the place of the sunlight, illuminating the stained glass windows for visitors in the evening hours.
The entire project, executed by Emmanuel Clair (Light Cibles) saw the customisation of most of the products, to adapt to the previous installation, another very important plus of the entire study carried out, to minimise the impact on the pre-existing environment and to guarantee maximum performance in the individual applications.