In Lyon, five mummies from the Musée des Confluences are getting a makeover before being exhibited in the Var
Fifty human mummies and two thousand five hundred animal mummies. The Musée des Confluences, in Lyon, has the second most important collection in the world after that of Cairo. Five of them will join in a few days the Departmental Hotel of the Var exhibitions, in Draguignan, to be exhibited there from June 10, alongside mummies from all over the world.
“It is quite exceptional that we lend human mummies, even if, in general, our policy of loans to other institutions is important, thousands of objects each year, but it is true that there, human mummies, it’s quite special“, explains David Besson, the head of the collections of the Lyon museum.
More than two thousand years old, these mummies are rather well preserved. But this trip to Draguignan was also the right opportunity to offer them a little facelift named in the expert hands of Laure Cadot, heritage restorer, specializing in organic materials and human remains “All the fragilities are especially on the parts of borders, at the level of the shoulders or on the front part on the sides of the wig. Exposed areas that can take shocks have small creases. These are quite fragile areas and it is a work of patience.”
The five “Lyonnaise” mummies will therefore be at the heart of the exhibition event at the Hôtel départemental des expositions du Var in Draguignan called “Mummies, the paths of eternity”, which will highlight different representations of mummies, their uses and how they are useful to the living. The public discovers the latest advances in knowledge about Egyptian mummies, but also mummies from Asia, Africa, America, Oceania and Europe. In all, three hundred objects will be presented, coming from the Musée des Confluences, the Louvre and the Quai Branly, other French and foreign museums as well as private collectors.
Mummies, the paths of eternity – from June 10 to September 25, 2022
Hôtel départemental des expositions du Var, 1 boulevard du Maréchal Foch 83300 Draguignan – Tuesday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. – Information and reservations on the website of the EHD Var.