Florence Cailleret, works of art manager, is constantly in contact with the château’s collections, intervenes during a loan to another institution, the restoration of a work, a change of presentation, a reorganization of room or works. It is responsible for the organization, management and supervision of the movement of the collections of the Palace of Versailles both internally and externally.
” It was the encounter with the people and the place, I must admit, that made me opt for Versailles. After my career took place inside, it could have veered at one point or another but I stayed there and for the moment I feel very good there. »
Florence Cailleret, works of art manager, started out studying history then moved on to art history. She discovered the profession of art manager by doing internships in museums. At the time, there was no university education. She returned to the Ministry of Culture and to the Castle of Versailles through competitions but through the technical sector in the trades of installers.
Proximity to works and mobility
She trained in the field, passed other competitions, which led her to the management of works. For Florence Cailleret, organizing the movement of the château’s collections also means being in contact with other professions.
” We have a proximity with the works, a mobility within the establishment and outside the establishment. We keep a practical side of the job, of course there is administration. It is a shared job that allows us to move throughout the establishment. In all that is preparation, we will work with other directions : surveillance, the communication and public relations department, the heritage and gardens department, in the context of works, before and after the works. We are far from being at the center but we work with a lot of people and that is also the very positive side of the job. »
Watch over the collections of the Palace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles has 3000 rooms. The works of art department watches over a collection of 84,069 works, including 6,207 paintings. There are also 7,452 pieces of furniture and 8,745 works of art, not to mention the 3,741 sculptures exhibited inside or outside.
Florence Cailleret reveals the methods for hanging a painting indoors. ” At the beginning, we made these collisions with the spirit level but here the floors are not straight between the north and the south, the east and the west. The low paneling looks straight because usually it’s straight, but if you take a spirit level, it’s not going to be straight: the line of the ceiling, the line of the low paneling, the line of the parquet floor are not going to be parallel and you add the frames of the paintings which are not necessarily square, because they have their age too. We use the tape measure and the spirit level, but afterwards there is an adjustment that is done by eye and it is the curators who have the final choice. »
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