the essential
In its reserves, the City is full of treasures, whether manuscripts or furniture. These are objects that must be constantly cared for, restored and studied, and it is the services of Hélène Lagès, director of the Historical Heritage, Museum and Archives Department who are responsible for them.
The sacristy of the chapel of the White Penitents on rue de l'Écluse has just received within its walls a newly restored monumental liturgical object. It is a candelabra more than 2 meters high which has a long history and which could have disappeared. It is Hélène Lagès, director of the Historical Heritage Center who speaks about it best.
“The Saint-Étienne church in Villeneuve-sur-Lot once kept in its basement a beautiful lectern, almost two meters high, walnut husk, as dusty as possible. Deposited in the reserves of the Rapin Museum in 1973, its inventory sheet described it as consisting of three interlocking parts: a triangular base supported by three feet decorated with acanthus leaves, an intermediate element carved with angel heads and a double desk topping the whole, made of two lyres with a palm tree trunk in the center. But it was not actually a lectern, as was discovered during a previous restoration.
“We don’t know the history of the candelabra”
“It is in fact a large candelabra intended to accommodate a large candle. Once restored, to regain its former luster, it was subjected, around twenty years ago, to water damage which weakened it and made it lose its splendor: lifting of the material, degradation of the gilding, significant gaps…”.
It was this year that the decision for a restoration was taken. “A fairly long job, since it took 156 hours of work in total by a team of three restorers, Mélissa and Etienne Réglat, assisted by technical assistance Tiziana Mazzoni to achieve this result which enriches the collection of objects religious belonging to the City”.
But, one last mystery remains around this candelabra. “We know nothing of its history before 1973, the date of its deposit in the reserves of the Rapin museum. If we know that it was in a basement of the Saint-Étienne church, we do not know more about its journey If, by its decoration, we think that it is dated from the 18th century, that's about it. There is no signature, no defined workshop… We think that it is. This is a local production, but for which church, for which chapel. This is why all the restorations carried out are documented and reversible. What must be kept in mind is the evolution of techniques and science: if in a few decades, new non-intrusive techniques are developed, we must be able to know what has been done , with what techniques and what products. “Whether on these objects, on paintings or on written documents, it is always the same procedure, the same state of mind on the part of the restorers” adds Hélène Lagès.
“A permanent enrichment of the collections”
And the work of the archives does not stop with the restoration of its collections. “If the municipal archives have the main missions of collecting and preserving documents produced and received by the various departments of the City, for legal purposes, they are also the place to safeguard its memory” explains Hélène Lagès. “Thanks to donations and purchases of old documents, our collections are growing and often shed new light on certain events.”
“We only have a few documents from the city’s medieval period” continues Hélène. “The example of the city charter in a museum in the United States clearly shows that many documents are scattered throughout the world, in private collections, in libraries, in museums… When we have the opportunity and above all the means, we strive to acquire new documents”.
As, for example, this summer, during an auction, the city was able to acquire a letter dated 1652 and sent to the Duke of Bouillon. “It is a letter relating the siege of Villeneuve during the Fronde of 1652. It is a very important document for the history of the city. The author even attached a map of the city with the location of the besieging troops.
A document which also explains, in the light of our current knowledge, the reason for the destruction of the towers and walls of the bastide. Treasures that immerse us in the history of the bastide, its construction, its life and therefore our heritage.
