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LE CITRON D'ÉDOUARD MANET
from the Musée d'Orsay to Villa Medici
01.03 - 19.05.2024
March 1 to May 19, 2024
Exceptional loan from the Musée d’Orsay, as part of the national event“Les 150 ans de l’impressionnisme ”
The painting is exhibited in the historic bedroom of Cardinal Ferdinand de Médicis, accessible only on guided tours of the Villa Medici.
An iconic citrus fruit of the Mediterranean landscape, the lemon has been given pride of place at Villa Medici thanks to an exceptional loan from the Musée d’Orsay of the work Le Citron, painted by Édouard Manet in 1880, which will be exhibited for three months in the Cardinal de Medici’s historic rooms, the highlight of the guided tour of Villa Medici.
From Ferdinand de Medici to Édouard Manet: Le Citron, the object of all passions
In the 16th century, orange, lemon, sour orange and citron trees abounded in the vast garden of the estate acquired by Ferdinand de Médicis in 1576. Carefully tended by gardeners to preserve their size and taste, citrus fruit supplied Ferdinand de Medici’s table, while their flowers and peels could be candied, pickled or transformed into perfumed oils and distilled in the palace’s fonderia. In particular, the citron or mala medica was cultivated for its pharmacological virtues: it relieved fevers and could neutralize poisons. Today, visitors to Villa Medici are reminded of this precious citrus fruit when they contemplate the painted vault of the stanza degli uccelli (“bird room”), Ferdinand’s private study.
From Rome to Paris, from one citrus passion to another: three centuries after the birth of Ferdinand de Medici fruit collection, Édouard Manet (Paris, 1832 – Paris, 1883) painted Le Citron. Despite its modest size (14 x 22 cm), this painting is one of the powerful still lifes by the painter who claimed to be the “French saint of the still life”. The painter has isolated the fruit with its yellow notes on a sober black glazed ceramic saucer, which brings out the essential: the strident color, the grain, the simplicity.
150 YEARS OF IMPRESSIONISM
In 2024, the French Ministry of Culture and the Musée d’Orsay are celebrating 150 years of Impressionism. Alongside the exhibition Paris 1874 to be held in Paris, some 180 works exceptionally loaned by the Musée d’Orsay are to be discovered in over 30 museums in France. For example, Manet’s Lemon will be in the spotlight in Rome, weaving a link with the House of Medici’s passion for citrus fruit.
Press kit “150 years of Impressionism with the Musée d’Orsay”.
VINCIANE DESPRET, WRITING RESIDENCY AT VILLA MEDICI
The silent presence of Le Citron at Villa Medici, which seems to summon all the senses, will be the occasion for a writing residency by author and philosopher Vinciane Despret in April, on the lookout for what the fruit might tell her.
Vinciane Despret
Vinciane Despret is a philosopher, psychologist and professor at the University of Liège. After discovering the work of ethologists, she turned her research towards the philosophy of science.
Examining and questioning our relationship with animals is at the heart of her work. Her numerous publications include Quand le loup habitera avec l’agneau (2004), Penser comme un rat (2009), Le Chez-Soi des animaux (2017), Que diraient les animaux… si on leur posait les bonnes questions? (2018) and Habiter en oiseau (2019). With the Bento association of architects, Vinciane Despret has curated the Belgian pavilion for the 2023 edition of the Venice Architecture Biennale.
In May 2023, to coincide with the publication in Italy of Autobiographie d’un poulpe, Vinciane Despret invited Emanuel Coccia and Paolo Pecere to Villa Medici to talk about the environment, the relationship between living species and architecture. This exchange was also a prelude to the third edition of Villa Medici’s Festival des Cabanes.
Examining and questioning our relationship with animals is at the heart of her work. Her numerous publications include Quand le loup habitera avec l’agneau (2004), Penser comme un rat (2009), Le Chez-Soi des animaux (2017), Que diraient les animaux… si on leur posait les bonnes questions? (2018) and Habiter en oiseau (2019). With the Bento association of architects, Vinciane Despret has curated the Belgian pavilion for the 2023 edition of the Venice Architecture Biennale. In May 2023, to mark the publication in Italy of the book Autobiographie d’un poulpe, Vinciane Despret proposed a meeting at Villa Medici with Emanuele Coccia and Paolo Pecere on the subject of the environment, the relationship between living species and architecture. This exchange was also a prelude to the third edition of Villa Medici’s Festival des Cabanes.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Villa Medici’s citrus programming is supported by the Fondation Gérard B. Lambert, Amundi and Van Cleef & Arpels. The exhibition of Manet’s Lemon at Villa Medici is made possible by an exceptional loan from the Musée d’Orsay.
