The Michelin Corporate Foundation and La Sauvegarde de l’Art Français

Since 2014, the Michelin Corporate Foundation has been engaged alongside La Sauvegarde de l’Art Français. It is giving particular backing to the ‘Biggest Museum in France’ campaign whose aim is to safeguard and showcase the artworks of France’s small towns.

Students from the Sciences Politiques and Sorbonne universities in Paris are especially involved in this operation and they have been joined this year by Michelin employees from the plants at Bourges, Roanne and Vannes.

Working individually or in teams, sometimes with their families, they have set out to discover the cultural heritage of their regions and identify the endangered works of art in need of restoration.

Their choices have been submitted to a panel made up of employees and representatives of the Michelin Corporate Foundation and Fondation pour la Sauvegarde de l’Art Français as well as museum and restoration professionals.

Restoration of the works selected by the panel will be funded by the Michelin Corporate Foundation.

At Bourges, two works have been considered worthy of recognition:

• the Cuffy ex voto model ship is exhibited in the church of Saint-Maurice and is a registered historical monument. Dating from the 19th century, the model is the replica of a ship built of wood and cloth;
• the Feast of Herod panel, also registered as a historical monument, is a key feature of the local heritage. After restoration, the work will return to the village church of Étrechy where it will be put on show.

At Roanne, a statue of Saint Anne has been chosen. Belonging to the Musée Joseph Déchelette, the work was placed in the church of Sainte-Anne in the 1990s after being exhibited in the Écomusée du Roannais textile museum.

And at Vannes, a model ship dedicated to Saint Anne has also been selected for restoration. This work of art dating from 1830 has been classified as a historical monument since 2014. It is preserved in the sanctuary of the basilica of Sainte-Anne-d’Auray.