An exhibition organised by the Réunion des Musées Nationaux and the Musée de Cluny - Musée National du Moyen Âge
In parallel to the exhibition at the Musée National de la Renaissance Château d’Ecouen
For the reopening of frigidarium of the Cluny thermae, the museum is holding an exhibition on the theme of grooming and bathing, demonstrating the importance of cosmetics and body care in Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Chemical analysis of ancient cosmetics gives the project an unexpected dimension.
Taking a bath was an event in everyday life in Antiquity. The frigidarium of the “Palais des Thermes” of ancient Lutetia is therefore an appropriate place to display antique works. Items from the Middle Ages are exhibited in two rooms in the Hôtel de Cluny. Both periods are represented through a wide range of objects: toilet kits containing powder boxes, perfume bottles, combs, mirrors, precious and ordinary objects and small instruments used for grooming. Sculptures (antique portraits and mediaeval statues), painted vases and paintings on wood from the fifteenth century complete this panorama of beauty in Antiquity and the Middle Ages.
Antiquity
The exhibition unfolds in chronological order. The sections on Antiquity evoke the thermae and their decoration notably through a set of statues on the theme of Aphrodite Bathing, a legacy from the fourth century often copied by the Romans. A vestige from Pompeii, the wall painting Echo and Narcissus on loan from the Archaeological Museum in Naples, stands alongside shells filled with cosmetics from the same site. Body care is evoked through objects from daily life, powders, ointments and perfumes. Grave goods from Herstal (Royal Museums, Belgium) emphasise a concern for beauty in the hereafter.
Cosmetics and perfumes gave rise to a veritable luxury industry. Objects in precious metals from Italy (mirror from Boscoreale, Esquiline treasure,) and from the northern routes of the Empire such as the Augst treasure (Augst, Römermuseum) are exhibited alongside glass vessels, in particular the famous bottles from the Romano-Germanic Museum in Cologne. A section on forms that have remained constant over time – mirror, comb, pyxis – shows how beauty care practices are passed on from one period to another.
The rooms devoted era break with the stubborn image of the dark ages and demonstrate, on the contrary, the variety and sometimes the luxury of the accessories and rituals that went with care of the body. Indeed, although the church urged self-abnegation, the faithful still cared about grooming. The make-up set from Erfut (Weimar, TLDA) and delicately carved Gothic combs are exemplary in their refinement. Complicated coiffures can be seen on remarkable sculptures, such as the Musée de Cluny’s elegant wooden statue of Mary Magdalene. Far from being forgotten, the great antique texts on the question of body care are reproduced in sumptuously decorated manuscripts. Some include exceptional images of the mediaeval baths, as does the famous Bath Scene from the Life in the Manor tapestry set (Musée de Cluny) which closes the exhibition.
An unexpected scientific dimension
In a study carried out by L’Oréal research laboratories and the French Museums’ Research and Restoration Centre (C2RMF-CNRS) 144 samples were analysed to gain a better understanding of the composition and use of cosmetics.
The exhibition presents recipients containing traces of powder or ointment, like an astonishing pyxis (London Museum) filled with cream for whitening the complexion, discovered in 2003, or a funerary vase containing pink cosmetics (Trèves, Landesmuseum). Pictures of carefully made-up faces illustrate the art of beautification.
Antique and medieval manuscripts such as the Livre des simples médecines (Bibliothèque nationale de France, 1232) describe the ingredients and processes used in the manufacture of cosmetics. These recipes are compared with the findings of the scientific analyses
Curators
Isabelle Bardiès-Fronty, chief curator of the Musée de Cluny – Musée National du Moyen Âge
Philippe Walter, research director CNRS at the C2RMF
Useful Information
Address
Musée de Cluny – Musée National du Moyen Âge
6, place Paul-Painlevé 75005 Paris
+33 (0)1 53 73 78 16
Access
Metro line 10, station: Cluny la Sorbonne, Saint Michel or Odéon. RER C, station: Saint Michel. RER B station: Cluny La Sorbonne. Bus 21, 27, 38, 63, 85, 86, 87 bus stop: Cluny la Sorbonne
Opening hours
Every day, except Tuesdays, from 9:15 a.m. to 5:45 p.m.
Admission
€8.50, concession: €6.50 including the permanent collection. Free for children under 26 and for all visitors on the first Sunday of the month.
Double ticket for the exhibition and the Musée National de la Renaissance : €13, concession €10
Lecture tours, theme cycle, lectures and concerts, by appointment
Tel : +33 (0)1 53 73 78 16
Publication
catalogue for the two exhibitions, 320 pages, approx. €49, a RMN/Gallimard copublication. On sale in all bookshops.
Press contact
Réunion des Musées Nationaux
49, rue Etienne Marcel
75039 Paris, cedex 01
Annick Duboscq
Tel : +33 (0)1 40 13 48 51
Musée de Cluny - Musée National du Moyen Âge
Natacha Provensal
Tel : +33 (0)1 53 73 78 15
Visit the museum’s website: www.musee-moyenage.fr
This exhibition was sponsored by L’Oreal Corporate Foundation and organised in collaboration with L’Oréal Research
Sponsored by Europe 1
Media partners: Teva and A nous Paris
