Paris (AFP)
Has the Carnavalet Museum abandoned Roman numerals for Arabic numerals to designate kings?
No, defends Paris-Museums, which manages it, the Arabic characters are only used as a supplement to allow better access of disabled people to the works.
Stop writing Louis XIV for Louis 14?
A lively controversy, notably relayed in the Italian press, erupted around the museum dedicated to the history of Paris, which is about to reopen after four years of work.
She denounced a "cultural catastrophe" and made fun of a "politically correct" aim to the detriment of the custom which wants us to designate kings and emperors by Roman numerals.
"Roman numerals are not abandoned: they are used for the names of kings and emperors on nearly 3,000 texts in the rooms with the exception of 170 texts of universal mediation accessible to all audiences", justified Paris-Museums on Twitter.
And the assistant to the Culture of the City of Paris, Carine Rolland, to drive the point home: "we do not remove anything but we must be ambitious and innovative in terms of accessibility".
Roman numerals have been kept on all developed cartels, child labels, screens, graphics, etc.
170 devices in total will offer decryption using modules to touch, manipulate, listen to.
The rule chosen was "the easy to read and understand": short sentences, simple vocabulary and ... Arabic numerals.
This numbering will facilitate the understanding of visitors with disabilities, we told AFP.
These devices also contain the description of the works in Braille.
As for the centuries, they will now be numbered in Arabic and non-Roman characters on the entire route, because the dates mentioned are very numerous in this museum which covers millennia of history of Lutetia and Paris.
In this regard, the choice of Carnavalet meets more and more frequent uses in many museums around the world.
When it reopens, the "Carnavalet Museum - History of Paris" will present 3,800 works from prehistory to today, in a modernized route.
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