Prix de Rome Park Garden-Museum in tribute to local artists

A visit to the Jardin des Prix de Rome promises an enriching experience rooted in the artistic history of Valenciennes. A stroll through the park will allow you to (re)discover Valenciennes artists: Abel de Pujol, Eugène Bozza, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, Alphonse Terroir, Francis Burette, Ernest-Eugène Hiolle, etc.

Enamelled lava, bronze, reproduction, marble engraved in bluestone… the whole range of artistic materials in the open air is yours to discover.

Getting there

16,000 m2 Museum Garden Nature and Culture

This park, created as an extension to the historic Jardin des Floralies, pays tribute to the many “Prix de Rome” winners from Valenciennes. This visit, combining culture and nature, will enable you to retrace the formation and evolution of the Prix de Rome competition over more than four centuries! The various artistic disciplines will be revealed through the discovery of sculptures, engravings and paintings, and the “Prix de Rome” will no longer hold any secrets for you…

History Jardin des Floralies

The Parc des Prix de Rome is the extension of a historic city park, the Jardin des Floralies (a small garden measuring 3,000 m2). The former Jardin des Floralies was redesigned and now marks the main entrance to the Parc des Prix de Rome.

Since 2014, this entrance has been centered around a large fountain that replenishes the “Laughing Man” statue and features a garden of the five senses.

As its name suggests, the garden evokes memories of the horticultural exhibitions held in the area in the past. It was created following the 5th Floralies internationales in 1954.

The Floralies garden seems particularly conducive to the pleasure of the eyes, nose, ears and mouth. The scent of lavender brushed against a bend in the path, the taste of a just-picked raspberry, the sound of the wind in the leaves…

We love: The scent of fragrant plants in early spring. The sight of its many colors in autumn. Let yourself be lulled by birdsong, the lapping of the fountain, the melody of the carillon of St-Michel church…

Did you know?

Valenciennes holds a prestigious record for winners of the Prix de Rome national competition: no fewer than 40 prizes, including 21 first Grand Prix! No wonder it’s nicknamed the Athens of the North!

Valenciennes colony in Rome The Villa Medici

From 1806 to 1971, the Villa Medici was the venue for the first Prix de Rome in painting, sculpture and architecture. One of the desks in the park presents this landmark in the history of the “Prix de Rome” through a painted representation of the gardens of the Roman building.

The Prix de Rome was created under the reign of Louis XIV. The sovereign decided that it was in Rome that artists in music, painting, sculpture, etc., should be trained. should train. After a break during the French Revolution, Napoleon I revived this tradition, and Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand (the most famous French diplomat in our history) was able to acquire the Villa Medici for the French state at a very modest price.

The Prix de Rome existed for 350 years, until 1968. We have counted 48 people from Valenciennes, or passing through Valenciennes, who have been laureates and boarders at the Villa Medici. Humorously, we can say that a colony of artists from Valenciennes has settled permanently in Rome.

The "Ronde des artistes Discovering our "Prix de Rome

As soon as the new museum designed by Paul Dusart was inaugurated, the painter Lucien Jonas imagined decorating the ceiling of the entrance hall. It’s the replica of this fresco for the dome that you can discover in the park in the form of an “orientation table”.

He would have to wait until 1922 to realize this dream. The war had come and gone. Under a sky populated with allegories of Time, Truth, Glory and Watteau, Jonas leads a procession of artists, living and dead alike, divided into four groups: painters, engravers, architects and sculptors. This strange procession, in which Harpignies is carried on a stretcher like the Virgin of the Holy Cordon, demonstrates Valenciennes’ long artistic tradition.

Cultural and entertainment venues The amphitheatre

In a nod to Rome, the park features a veritable open-air amphitheatre. It’s the ideal setting for both professional and amateur performances. This is the pleasant surprise of the Parc des Prix de Rome!

In spring and summer, the park regularly hosts concerts, story readings and comedy shows.

It’s also in this area of the Jardin des Prix de Rome that the city of Valenciennes offers free fitness sessions on Sundays during the summer months, and where we meet on Thursdays for the now-famous Valenciennes “Jeudi Picnic Party”: picnics in the shade of the trees, often accompanied by the soft music of guest bands to ensure a great atmosphere.

More info

©Valenciennes Pdr Nausica Bottiau Dboukla 1

Auberge du Bon Fermier

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