It’s time to rediscover the colour at the Musée Des Arts Décoratifs

An increasingly inseparable duo, which combines technology and art, as in the case of the ambitious lighting project of LINEA LIGHT GROUP for the well-known Musée des Arts décoratifs, curated by lighting designer Emmanuel Clair of the Light Cibles studio and dedicated to the lighting of the Medieval and Renaissance areas of the museum. Located inside the Louvre’s Palace, the museum of the Decorative Arts is the sixth most visited museum of France and one of the most important in the world. Founded in the nineteenth century, it houses thousands of collectors’ objects and artworks, offering a complete overview of arts from the Middle Ages to the 21st Century, ranging from toys to jewels, ceramics to furniture. The section devoted to the Middle Ages and the Renaissance is rich of remarkable altarpieces, everyday objects, 16th-century glass walls, religious paintings and beautiful tapestries exposed in rotation.

The lighting intervention of requalification had to respond to specific requests of the customer, with the main aim of rediscovering and exalting the authentic colors of the works, adopting modern lighting technologies in tune with the museum spaces. Solutions that can involve the visual experience of the public, with particular attention to highlight the features of each work and the characteristics of the setting: the fascinating challenge was to illuminate decorative objects from different dimensions and finishings within a space that needs the suitable light for the visitor’s enjoyment,

The need to adapt to pre-existing structures required custom solutions without replacements, thanks to devices specifically optimized to follow needs. Solutions aimed to emphasize the spiritual value of colours according to the expressive sensibility of the artist itself, rediscovering the artistic meaning of the original chromatism, resorting to pioneering and hi-performances technologies.

The project makes large use of the Iris T fittings with new UltraHD* diodes that, developed in conjunction with CREE, are able to retrieve every colour ranges with a fidelity reproduction almost equal to that guaranteed by the natural light source par excellence: the Sun. The exhibition rooms are fitted with adjustable optics luminaires which, alongside moulded Vektor fittings create a suffused, staged lighting in which the light beam is focussed only where needed on the artwork, becoming progressively softer towards the borders and the frames. As a result, the paintings emerge from the shaded walls as if lit from within. The large glass display cases showcasing statuettes and artefacts in ceramic and glass have been installed Reika fittings. These linear profiles with asymmetrical optics illuminate the objects placed on the shelves without dazzling the viewers, and are dimmed individually to provide adequate light based to the size of the display.

The decorative glass panes located in front of the room windows are illuminated by Xenia fittings which at sunset replace natural light illuminating the stained-glass windows for visitors in the evening.

Old halogen devices have been replaced by LED technologies, which contribute to reducing consumptions for a fundamental energy saving operation.