The Draguignan Museum of Fine Arts is currently offering a very special exhibition with an incredible history.
Indeed, originally from the south of France, Marguerite Maeght knows the story of Saint Roseline well, whose miracles are famous in this region. She then decides to ask him for a grandson (she already has several granddaughters). Her wish granted, the collector and patron feeling indebted, called on her closest artist friends to tackle the restoration of the chapel dedicated to the saint, located in Arcs-sur-Argens. Giacometti, Chagall, Bazaine and Ubac will participate in this project and will give this building a celestial dimension.
Marguerite Maeght’s wish is presented at the Draguignan MBA until September 22.
Roseline, a local saint
Born around 1270, Roseline de Villeneuve, daughter of Giraud II de Villeneuve lord of Arcs, devoted her life to prayer. Carthusian, novice at Prébayon, the nun professed at Bertaud then became prioress of the monastery of La Celle-Roubaud, where she ended her days in 1329. During her life, two mysteries were attributed to her – the miracle of the roses and the meal of the angels – both suggesting divine action bringing relief to the human condition. In the first, young Roseline commits theft of food from the poor. Surprised by her father who asks her to show him what she is hiding, the teenager opens her apron.
The victuals it contained were transformed into an armful of roses. The second miracle evokes the repair of an oversight. Engrossed in her prayers, Roseline forgot to prepare the meal for her community. The angels will set a miraculous table for her. Marc Chagall and Diego Giacometti will interpret these two episodes. After the death of the Carthusian, which occurred in 1329, her body, exhumed intact, will spread an odor of sanctity. Canonized in the 19th century, Saint Roseline will, from then on, be the object of a cult in Provence and in particular of a pilgrimage every October 16.
