Description

Gobelins Workshops

The story 

The Gobelins enclosure is no less than 80 art technicians, 23 shades of color, 000 furnished depositories of the Republic, approximately 600 masterful "pieces" which "fall from the loom" each year and 5 factories with unique and traditional weaving know-how which endures and develops over the ages.

The Gobelins factory makes tapestries on vertical looms called high warp looms, the Beauvais factory uses horizontal looms called low warp looms and the Savonnerie factory specializes in creating carpets on high warp looms.

The know-how

Open your eyes wide and contemplate the meticulousness with which the art technicians work. They are among the best weavers in the world and shape monumental works based on models by contemporary artists.

The delicate handling of the spindle, the comb and the tracing paper, the perfect mastery of the knots, the meticulous positioning of the mirror which serves as a control for the work in progress or even the preparation of the "chain", all these techniques transform the hand of man into the hand of an accomplished artist and the majestic machine into a delicate high-end instrument.

You will then understand why the completion of a piece is proudly celebrated. After years of work, the masterpiece is inventoried and made available to furnish the high places of the Republic or to be presented to the public in cultural places.

During temporary exhibition periods, this visit gives you free access to the current exhibition.