DECOUVRIR CAEN

Qui ne connaît le nom de Richard Coeur de Lion ? Curieusement, ce personnage légendaire est plus souvent associé à l'Aquitaine où à la Terre Sainte qu'à la Normandie. En digne héritier de Guillaume le Conquérant, Richard 1er a maintenu la Normandie dans l'Empire Plantagenêt en contrant les ambitions du Roi de France, Philippe Auguste. Sa mort violente et prématurée entraîna le rattachement de la Normandie à la France.

The name of Richard the Lionheart is familiar to us all. Curiously, this legendary figure is more often associated with Aquitaine and the Holy Land than with Normandy. A worthy descendant of William the Conqueror, Richard I maintained Normandy within the Plantagenet Empire, by countering the ambitious plans of the King of France, Philip Augustus. His violent and untimely death was to lead to Normandy's annexation to France. The Anglo-Norman territory, that "straddled the sea" and could well have offered an alternative to the national monarchic construction, was never to recover.

Thanks to its monumental heritage, Caen is one of a very few selected European towns offering a comprehensive insight into architectural styles from the 11th to the 21st Century. From its colossal castle to its famous abbeys, without forgetting its many churches, chapels and civil buildings, Caen is a constant medley of traditional and modern architecture. And from its wounds, it has drawn strength thanks to an extremely successful reconstruction programme, integrating environmental awareness well ahead of its time. A university town since the Middle Ages, Caen offers visitors a wealth of cultural discoveries from living art to historical and artistic heritage, symbolised within its many museums.

Résumé : Père de la sculpture moderne, Auguste Rodin (1840?1917) a ouvert la voie à des artistes majeurs du XXe siècle. S?il a marqué les esprits par sa valorisation du fragment, de l?inachèvement, il a également renouvelé le médium en y introduisant la notion d?aléatoire et d?accident. Rodin, acceptant les fruits du hasard, intègre à sa démarche artistique des éléments qui ne doivent rien à son initiative personnelle. L?accident devient processus créatif. Bénéficiant de la participation exceptionnelle du musée Rodin, l?exposition, qui explore un thème nouveau, présente, autour de La Muse tragique, don de Rodin au musée d?Art et d?Histoire de Genève, près de quatre-vingts sculptures.