Musee des Tapisseries (Tapestry Museum), Aix-en-Provence

Musee des Tapisseries (Tapestry Museum) is a museum of tapestries located on the 1st floor in the state rooms of Palais Archiépiscopal d'Aix-en-Provence. The collection, made up of tapestries from the 17th and 18th centuries, is made up of three suites: "Les Grotesques", inspired by Jean Bérain , "The Story of Don Quixote", after Natoire and "Les jeux russiens", according to Leprince.

The first group of tapestries is made up of 6 pieces: the Grotesques, after the cartoons of the painter Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer who was inspired by the decorator and draftsman Jean Bérain. These hangings made around 1680, dominated by orange tones, were used as theater sets.

The story of Don Quixote is made from the cartoons of Charles-Joseph Natoire, between 1735 and 1745. It is a unique copy, the only one existing in the world.

The scenes are as follows: the Princess of Micomicon, Dulcinea, the Knight of Mirrors, the cave of Montesinos, Don Quixote meeting the Duchess, Don Quixote received at the Duchess's home is disarmed by his companions, Sancho's departure for the Island of Barataria, Sancho and the hazelnut seller, Sancho's meal in Barataria.

A certain Pierre Griniod d'Orsay ordered these hangings to decorate one of his Parisian mansions. Until the Revolution , they were in the old Château d'Orsay.

The Russian Games (1770) are created from the cartoons of the painter Jean-Baptiste Leprince. Russia was a fashionable pictorial subject in the 18th century, so here we have rural scenes with gypsies dancing, having lunch, and bird-nesters.

The museum's collections were successively enriched from the 1970s with a textile art fund, a contemporary art fund (Cane, Buraglio, Bioulès, Surian, Garanjoud etc.) and a collection of performing art linked to the memory of the Lyric Art Festival.

This theme is now the main orientation of the museum, with a view to creating a "Maison de l'Opéra" intended to house the heritage collections of opera from the city of Aix (sets, costumes, models, etc.) from the Festival d'art lyrique and the Jeu de Paume theater.