Paris (AFP)

At the end of a meticulous restoration, the tapestry "the School of Athens", which shows an assembly of philosophers and scholars deliberating, will find its place in the heart of the National Assembly, overhanging the hemicycle where sit MPs.

The Mobilier National has just restored it for nearly 50 days thanks to the work of five expert upholsterers. In particular, dyed cotton canvases were attached to the back of the tapestry in places where it had weaknesses.

Its installation and stapling will take place in several stages, from August 17 to 21 at the Palais Bourbon.

This impressive wall hanging in wool, silk and gold thread, measuring 8.9 m by 4.95 m, had been woven in the workshops of the Manufacture des Gobelins between 1734 and 1737, after a cardboard by Valentin de Boulogne, inspired by the frescoes that Raphael executed between 1508 and 1512 in the Vatican.

It had been hanging since 1879, when the chambers of the Third Republic returned to Paris, which previously sat in Versailles.

"By showing then to the deputies a deliberative assembly, it intended to mark the difference with the Second Empire", explained to AFP Thierry Sarmant, director of the collections of the National furniture, which supervised this restoration.

The scene represents, in the midst of young people and philosophers, Plato and Socrates who seem to be discussing and, in front of them, Diogenes reading, seated on the steps. In the foreground, on each side, a group of scholars writing, and others holding spheres and tracing geometric figures.

Raphael had pictured himself on his original fresco which adorns one of the Vatican rooms and was therefore reproduced on the tapestry. But until now his figure was hidden because the tapestry was presented folded in a fan, and the genius of the Renaissance was in a place hidden by a fold. In the new layout, her face will finally be visible.

© 2020 AFP