Loan from the Pasteur Museum collection for the "Vikings and Normans" exhibition

As previously announced in the newsletter, the Pasteur Museum recently closed for major restoration and refurbishment works in the historical building. However, the work of the museum teams, including virtual tours and loans, is continuing during this period. An item is currently being loaned for an exhibition entitled "Vikings and Normans" that has recently been launched at the Museum of Normandy.

The "Vikings and Normans" exhibition opened on April 1 at the Museum of Normandy, in the Château de Caen, giving the public an opportunity to find out more about these peoples who came from the North and the legacy they left not only in the collective imagination but also in the Normandy region.

The exhibition includes loans from prestigious collections and objects inspired by Viking art. The Musée d'Orsay, the Royal Court of Sweden and National Museum in Stockholm, and the Institut Pasteur have contributed to this exhibition by loaning several items.

The cloisonné enamel and silver gilt case, featuring the inscription "To Louis Pasteur, his admirers from Norway, December 27, 1892," has been on display as part of the exhibition since April 1. The case, produced in 1892 by David Andersen after a model by Johan Lund, was previously exhibited on the fireplace of the Grand Salon in the Pasteur Museum. It was given to Louis Pasteur by the Norwegian Medical Association.

The case is one of the very rare works held in French museums that is representative of the dragon style produced in Norway by Johan Lund, head of the chasing and engraving department in the David Andersen workshop.

The case demonstrates three enameling techniques (cloisonné, encrusted and champlevé) and Norwegian-inspired motifs for the four dragons bearing the Norwegian arms, a style that became the hallmark of Andersen pieces produced in the 1890s.

This piece therefore demonstrates the high standards achieved by Norwegian goldsmiths and their desire to evoke their country's past, as well as the links between France and Norway in the late 19th century.

Image : Chris Browne (dessin et scénario, 1952) Hägar The Horrible [Hägar Dünor en français], 1996, dessin aquarellé, 32,5 × 45 cm
Caen, Musée de Normandie, inv. 96.17.1
Photo Ville de Caen / Patricia Touzard