It’s not often that the Val-de-Grâce church is open to the public (it’s actually a military church usually reserved for state funerals, although there is a public mass on Sundays). We took advantage of the current exhibition to take photos of this most extraordinary place dating from the 17th Century…

photos : JasonW


Call us uncultured heathens, but this exhibition kind of slipped by us. However, it’s not too late still and the description makes it sound rather special:

- 28 frescos of the life of Saint Francis of Assisi (1181-1226)
- a huge reconstitution (3 metres high and 70 metres long) of Giotti’s Franciscan cycle
- a projeciton of images onto the church façade at night, orchestrated by Venetian artist Gianfranco Iannuzzi (free!)

The exhibition had been organised as part of the celebrations for the 800th anniversary of the creation of the Franciscan order.

Even if you’re not too interested in the exhibition, the venue is quite extraordinary (and free to enter, unlike the exhibition). There are also free concerts given there one Saturday per month (more details in French here). And if you want to check out the full Flickr gallery of this incredible place, click here.

Here’s all the essential information for the « Giotto – Francis, radiant humility » exhibition at the Val-de-Grâce church in Paris

When: runs until 11th May 2009
Where: Église du Val-de-Grâce, 1 place Alphonse Laveran, 75005 Paris. Métro Censier – Daubenton (line 7), Raspail (lines 4, 6). RER B Port Royal. Bus n°s 38, 82, 83 & 91
Opening hours: every day from 1.30 – 7pm, except Saturdays and the 14th, 15th, 26th and 27th March, when doors shut at 6pm. Also closed 25th April
Admission: Adults 7€, concessions 5€
More information about the exhibition (in French): here
Wikipedia page (in English) about Val-de-Grâce: here

Bigger map here