The Sens Museum, installed in the medieval palace of the archbishops at 135 rue des Déportés de la Résistance (Sens, Yonne), closed on December 30 for a year of work. These will make it possible to modernize the exhibition route. The museum will reopen in 2026.
Classified as a historic monument in 1862, 1909 and 2014, the Archbishops’ Palace was acquired by the city during the Revolution, then partially returned to the Church in 1822 before returning to the municipality. Renovation work was undertaken at the beginning of the 1980s. In 1985, the Musée de Sens, which had been located since 1844 in the Hôtel Vezoul (the current town hall of Sens), moved there.
In this vast ensemble of four buildings, including the Orangery, located near the city’s cathedral, the collections of the State, the Archaeological Society and the city of Sens are exhibited. Among the most prestigious works is the Gallo-Roman collection from Senonese excavations as well as the treasure of Sens Cathedral. This consists in particular of pieces of goldwork, enamels, as well as the shrouds of Saint Siviard, Saint Colombe and Saint Wolf. The museum also presents works from various donations, including paintings by Brueghel, Boudin, Watteau. Since 2021, a room has been dedicated to Napoleon. Emphasis is also placed on contemporary Senonese works.
The work aims to strengthen the coherence of the museum journey in connection with the history of the city and the archbishop’s palace. Pieces from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance will be taken out of storage and the latest Roman excavations in the town of Sens will be highlighted. Furthermore, the museum plans to adapt the exhibition route to digital technology with the installation of projection screens and touch screens.
The lighting and furniture will also be reviewed. “The current lighting is uneven and sometimes unsuitable, which distorts the presentations. The goal is to show better, sometimes by showing less”indicated Benjamin Fendler, the director of the museum, to the newspaper Republican Yonne. Restoration work on the facades, roof and joinery of the Orangery will also be carried out.
The overall cost of this work amounts to 1.2 million euros, divided between the modernization of the exhibition route (€400,000), compliance (€400,000) and the renovation of the Orangery ( €400,000)
This work had already been under discussion since 2017. Since then, minor modifications have been added, but the overall project, which included the extension of the museum to the former stables, owned by the state, was partly reduced after the Covid crisis . The current arrangement of the collections had not been changed since the 1980s.
