The François Pétrarque Museum-Library is located in the heart of the village of Fontaine-de-Vaucluse and preserves works by poets François Pétrarque and René Char, as well as other modern and contemporary artists.
A place of literary memory, the François Pétrarque Museum-Library brings to life a written and artistic heritage based on the figure of the first humanist of the Middle Ages, François Pétrarque, and the poet living along the banks of the Sorgue, René Char.
The collections include both an iconography of drawings and prints by the Petrarch, Laure, the inspirational muse, and Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, as well as a collection of old editions of the works of the French and Italian poet and Petrarchists. A modern art collection perpetuates the sentimental and artistic links of a number of artists with this poetic territory, around René Char and his 'substantial allies'.
Thus, on the ground floor of the museum, the great names of modern art are presented: Georges Braque, Alberto Giacometti, Pablo Picasso, Arpas Szenes, Vieira da Silva, Joan Miró, Zao Wou-Ki, Wifredo Lam... Autograph letters, manuscripts, aphorisms on pebbles, original photographs illustrate the country of springs, fertilized by the vision of the poet René Char. On
the first floor, a fabulous collection of portraits of Petrarch and Laure embraces the trends and fashions of each era. A collection of old editions, from the 15th to the 19th century, presents the poet's work: his famous Canzoniere, his Trionfi, as well as his treatises in Latin. Numerous drawings and prints restore the character of the inspired place that was Fontaine-de-Vaucluse.
The second floor presents the 'Water Treasure' - a collection of ancient coins discovered in 2003 in the Fontaine-de-Vaucluse chasm and which evokes five centuries of offerings dedicated to the cult of the mysterious resurgence. This metaphorical treasure has inspired many contemporary artists who, through their exhibited works, have left traces of their passages.
Musée-Bibliothèque François Pétrarque
Rive Gauche de la Sorgue
84800 Fontaine-de-Vaucluse
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Dernière mise à jour 09/12/2024