Incredible but true. After twelve years of twists and turns and struggles, the Dobrée museum in Nantes will once again welcome visitors from this Saturday. The Loire-Atlantique departmental council, its owner, chose the European Night of Museums to reopen with great fanfare to the public this emblematic site of the city, which marks 500,000 years of history across five continents. For the occasion, it will be accessible free of charge this Saturday until midnight, with activities planned (also Sunday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.).
The curious will first discover the three buildings on the site (the Palais Dobrée, the Manoir de la Touche and the Voltaire building) completely renovated, inside and out, to become “a work in itself, worthy of a 21st century museum,” said Michel Ménard, president (PS) of the departmental council, a few months ago. In total, 36 rooms were redeveloped in the impressive palace, from the cellar to the attic.
The return of the heart of Anne de Bretagne
Among the 2,400 paintings, ceramics, or other coins (out of the 130,000 objects), the people of Nantes will be able to find with pleasure the centerpiece of the collection: the case of the heart of Anne of Brittany, made in 1514 at the request of the queen so that her heart rests near the tomb of her parents, in Nantes. A reliquary that has almost disappeared several times. The last one was in April 2018, when it was stolen from the premises of the building then under construction.
An adventure among others who punctuated this colossal project, with a “big budget” of 50 million euros. After two first versions of the project were rejected by the courts, the bill had increased considerably. The fault lies in “many complexities”, which we now say are “part of the past”.