EUROPEAN HERITAGE DAY

An immobile journey: the e|m|a gypsotheque

From the 17th to the 19th century, the academic training of future artists involved observing the Old Masters and works that represented the ideal of "Beauty". The most fortunate went on the Grand Tour, a voyage of initiation to the major European artistic centres. Italy was a favourite destination, but little by little some artists extended their horizons to Greece and even the Ottoman Empire and Persia. For those who were unable to embark on such a journey, the studios and schools of Fine Arts were equipped with engraved reproductions - later photographs - as well as life-size plaster casts. These sets of casts were known as gypsotheques, from the ancient Greek gýpsos ("plaster") and thêkê ("box"). The journey through time, forms and styles takes place in the very place of learning.
The municipal drawing school, founded in Chalon in 1820, was no exception to this practice. Casts of Egyptian, Sumerian and Greek sculptures were made available to students. Carefully preserved, they are still found today in the workshops of the e|m|a.