BLOIS.- In 2015, various events, including major exhibitions, will be organized during the year. Located in the heart of the Loire Valley, the Royal Château of Blois is a hotspot for art and history, visited by nearly 300.000 people each year. Heir to a prestigious royal past, it has conducted for several years an active policy of touristic and cultural development for all. The Château has led in particular a program of major exhibitions about the civilization of Renaissance. Favorite residence of the Court in the sixteenth century, it was also the first project undertaken by Francis I from 1515. Location of the royal library until 1544 (date of its transfer to Fontainebleau), the castle could not therefore fail to participate in this anniversary with a major international exhibition. The City of Blois and the Bibliothèque nationale de France have joined forces to produce one of the most important exhibition of this anniversary, the largest one outside Paris and the Paris region. Elisabeth Latrémolière, chief curator and director of the Royal Château of Blois and Blois museums, is the general curator of this exhibition and Maxence Hermant, curator of the Manuscript department at the Bibliothèque nationale de France, is the scientific curator.

For the first time the most valuable books of Francis I have been gathered, along with a collection of artefacts also coming from the royal collections. Of the 140 pieces selected, nearly 130 are kept at the Bibliothèque nationale de France : manuscripts and printed books, precious book covers, engravings and drawings, coins and medals, artefacts and jewels. The other works of art come from major French and international cultural institutions (Louvre museum), in particular from the United States (the Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Morgan Library and Museum of New York) or from private collections (United States). Throughout the exhibition, visitors will admire numerous artworks rarely exposed due to their fragility and preciousness. It is the first attempt to recreate Francis’s library in such an ambitious way. Many books are back at the Royal Château of Blois for the first time since the sixteenth century, which will generate for sure public interest. Among other exceptional pieces being presented are the famous Grandes heures d’Anne de Bretagne illuminated by Jean Bourdichon ; the Heures de Louis de Laval illuminated by Jean Colombe, considered as the most illuminated manuscript in the world with 1.200 miniatures ; one of the twenty embroidered cover books from the Renaissance still existing in the world ; the Bible from Robert Estienne, printed in 1540 with a very precious cover book marked by the royal F; and one of the Caroligian Évangiles, from the ninth century later binded by Francis I.

The exhibition has been built around sets of books with the same origin or context of acquisition, allowing the public to capture its richness and complexity : the inheritance from Angoulême’s family (John of Angoulême and Marguerite de Rohan, Francis’s grandparents, Charles de Valois, Duke of Angoulême and Louise of Savoy, his parents, and finally the young Francis of Angoulême himself, future Francis I) ; Blois royal library ; the king personal library ; Anne of Brittany and Claude of France’s bequests ; the books taken from the Bourbon family ; the royal chapel ; the Oriental and Italian dream ; and finally the king’s private cabinet, previously unseen. The public will then discover what the royal « library » consisted of, Francis’s personal library as much as the royal institutional library. The manuscripts of this library demonstrate the persistence of the medieval taste for luxurious large formats of princely libreries. The incunabula (books printed before 1500) also testify Renaissance typographical researches and the different techniques of binding. The library of Francis I, man of letters, composed of Greek and Latin texts, practical and technical books, literary works and devotional books illustrates the Renaissance cultural environment but also the taste and the education of a prince. Was there a single library of various ones, with different contents, status and subjects ?

Libraries from the Renaissance period were different from those of later centuries. The exhibition therefore answers practical questions: what was looking like the royal library? Both in its location within the royal apartments, in its furnitures (cabinets, shelves…), and in its setting in Blois and later in Fontainebleau ; what was its use ? At the same time place of study and collection ; and finally, how was it working ? The role of scholars and librarians… Based on researches initiated several years ago, this exhibition takes a fresh look at Francis’s book collection, between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. It also allows an exceptional access for a large public to some treasures from French national collections. Francis’s books were indeed the source of the kings of France’s library which became the national library during the Revolution. Particular attention has been paid to the mediation of the exhibition, with visits and suitable devices. Digital technologies also are present in the exhibition, making a link between past and present. Digital terminals allow the public to browse through the most important books, such as the Grandes heures d’Anne de Bretagne. Flash codes placed on display cases allow consultation of books scanned in high definition and color on Gallica, the BnF online library. The visitors are able to share those links on social medias.