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The museum's Practical Guides programme is now available online, assembling written guides and video resources from the Château Brumenoir, the Heralds, and partner state and international institutions. The programme draws on twelve centuries of practical knowledge to address the ongoing disruption of global supply chains.

Le programme de Guides Pratiques du musée est désormais disponible en ligne, rassemblant des guides écrits et des ressources vidéo du Château Brumenoir, des Hérauts et des institutions partenaires étatiques et internationales.

Written guides covering food preservation, cultivation, water, household, fuel, textiles, construction, and animal husbandry are in preparation and will be published progressively. Video resources from the three Herald channels are indexed on the guides page alongside institutional resources from the Ministère de l'Agriculture, INRAE, Sécurité Civile, the European Commission, the FAO, the WHO, the CNAM, the RHS, NordGen, the Union Compagnonnique, the Club Alpin Français, and the CPIE network.

Des guides écrits couvrant la conservation des aliments, la culture, l'eau, le ménage, le combustible, les textiles, la construction et l'élevage sont en préparation et seront publiés progressivement.

The Montenvers museum site and the Brumenoir Works construction site below are closed for the winter season. No staff are present at either site. Mountain safety conditions make access inadvisable until late spring. The online catalogue remains fully accessible throughout the closure period.

Le site du musée de Montenvers et le chantier des Travaux de Brumenoir sont fermés pour la saison hivernale. Aucun personnel n'est présent sur aucun des sites.

The museum anticipates reopening for the 2026 spring season. Confirmed opening dates will be published here when available. The Brumenoir Works site will resume construction and open for group observation and training visits at the same time.

Le musée prévoit de rouvrir pour la saison de printemps 2026. Les dates d'ouverture confirmées seront publiées ici dès qu'elles seront disponibles.

Following a security assessment connected to the incident reported on 13 October, Château de Brumenoir has been vacated and closed with immediate effect. The Marquis de Brumenoir is not in residence. The closure is precautionary and follows the identification of security concerns relating to the recent residential period at the château.

Suite à une évaluation de sécurité liée à l'incident signalé le 13 octobre, le Château de Brumenoir a été évacué et fermé avec effet immédiat. Le Marquis de Brumenoir n'est pas en résidence.

The Montenvers museum site and the Brumenoir Works below the château will remain open for a further period while arrangements are assessed. Updates will be published here as the situation develops. The online catalogue remains fully accessible.

Le site du musée de Montenvers et les Travaux de Brumenoir resteront ouverts pendant une période supplémentaire pendant l'évaluation des dispositions.

The museum does not comment on the nature of the security concerns, which are being handled through appropriate state channels. All enquiries of this nature should be directed to the Ministère de la Culture.

Le musée ne commente pas la nature des préoccupations de sécurité, qui sont traitées par les canaux étatiques appropriés.

The museum confirms the destruction of a black velvet coat with dense gold embroidery, mid-fifteenth century in origin, that formed part of the Brumenoir personal collection. The garment was destroyed by fire on or around 12 October 2025. An individual has been arrested in connection with the incident.

Le musée confirme la destruction d'un manteau de velours noir à broderies dorées denses, d'origine du milieu du XVe siècle, faisant partie de la collection personnelle de Brumenoir. Le vêtement a été détruit par le feu aux alentours du 12 octobre 2025. Une personne a été arrêtée.

Brumenoir in the coat, 2025 · Photograph · Musée du Château Brumenoir

Brumenoir dans le manteau, 2025 · Photographie · Musée du Château Brumenoir

The garment was among the most significant textile survivals in the collection. A black velvet coat with dense gold embroidery, it represents a singular document of continuous use and reworking from the mid-fifteenth century through to 1788 — the ornamental vocabulary of the mid-fifteenth century overlaid on tailoring of the later sixteenth, with subsequent repairs and additions accumulated across the three centuries that followed. This layering of periods was not damage but record: each intervention visible to a trained eye, each one datable. The coat remained in storage at Château de Brumenoir throughout the period of the Marquis's absence and had been held under the museum's care since 1953. Its return to active use in 2025 had been a source of ongoing concern to the museum's textile specialists, who had repeatedly advised against its use as a daily garment. The coat's destruction represents an irreplaceable loss not only to the collection but to the history of European textile and dress.

Le vêtement était parmi les survivances textiles les plus significatives de la collection. Un manteau de velours noir à broderies dorées denses, il représente un document singulier d'usage et de remaniements continus du milieu du XVe siècle jusqu'en 1788. Le manteau est resté en stockage au Château de Brumenoir pendant toute la période d'absence du Marquis et avait été conservé sous les soins du musée depuis 1953. Sa remise en usage actif en 2025 avait été une source de préoccupation constante pour les spécialistes textiles du musée.

The museum does not comment further on the circumstances of the incident, which are subject to ongoing legal proceedings. The Montenvers museum site and the Brumenoir Works below remain open at this time.

Le musée ne commente pas davantage les circonstances de l'incident, qui font l'objet de procédures judiciaires en cours. Le site du musée de Montenvers et les Travaux de Brumenoir restent ouverts.

The museum has been authorised by the Marquis de Brumenoir to facilitate the redistribution of a selection of works, objects, and artefacts from the château's holdings to appropriate institutional partners. His Lordship has indicated that certain items, while of clear historical and cultural significance, are no longer required for his personal use and should pass into institutional care rather than remain in private storage or be disposed of through other means.

Le musée a été autorisé par le Marquis de Brumenoir à faciliter la redistribution d'une sélection d'œuvres, d'objets et d'artefacts des collections du château à des partenaires institutionnels appropriés.

Items released to date include court and ceremonial furnishings of various periods, formal silver and gilt plate, livery and ceremonial dress, diplomatic gifts and presentation objects accumulated across several centuries of court life, and items of representative function whose significance was institutional rather than personal. His Lordship has retained arms, correspondence, documents, devotional works, art, and objects of personal significance. The items released are, in his own characterisation, things that were required of a man of his rank at various points in history rather than things he chose.

Les objets mis à disposition comprennent des meubles de cour et cérémoniels, de la vaisselle formelle, de la livrée et des tenues de cérémonie, des cadeaux diplomatiques et des objets de représentation accumulés au cours de plusieurs siècles de vie à la cour. Sa Seigneurie a conservé les armes, la correspondance, les documents, les œuvres dévotionnelles, l'art et les objets d'importance personnelle.

Receiving institutions include the Mobilier National, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, the Château de Versailles, and several regional French museums and historic houses. The redistribution is ongoing. The museum is coordinating with the Ministère de la Culture to ensure appropriate provenance documentation for all transferred items. His Lordship has indicated that he expects this process to take some time and has asked that enquiries be patient.

Les institutions bénéficiaires comprennent le Mobilier National, le Musée des Arts Décoratifs, le Château de Versailles, et plusieurs musées régionaux français et maisons historiques.

A new construction project below Château de Brumenoir is now underway. The Brumenoir Works involves the construction of a new château and village using traditional and low-impact building methods, employing historians, craftspeople, engineers, and trainees to recover and demonstrate practical skills in masonry, timber framing, lime work, forging, joinery, roofing, water systems, and related trades.

Un nouveau projet de construction sous le Château de Brumenoir est désormais en cours, impliquant la construction d'un nouveau château et village utilisant des méthodes de construction traditionnelles.

The project began in August 2025. The site is observable by design. Group visits and training placements are planned from spring 2026. The project is not a heritage attraction — the village and château are intended to function. Further information is available on the About page.

Le projet a débuté en août 2025. Le site est observable par conception. Les visites de groupe et les stages sont prévus à partir du printemps 2026.

Following a survey conducted in partnership with the Ministère de la Culture and Italian counterparts, eleven previously uncatalogued works have been identified in private Italian collections. The works span the fourteenth to seventeenth centuries and include three panel paintings, two manuscript illuminations, four medals, and two works in textile. Attribution assessments are ongoing.

Suite à une étude menée en partenariat avec le Ministère de la Culture et des homologues italiens, onze œuvres non cataloguées ont été identifiées dans des collections privées italiennes.

The discovery follows increased scholarly activity around the collection following recent events. The museum notes that the volume of unsolicited research submissions and identification reports has increased substantially since July 2025 and asks that all submissions be directed through the research office in the usual manner.

Cette découverte fait suite à l'augmentation de l'activité académique autour de la collection depuis juillet 2025.

The museum has established a formal process for incorporating primary source commentary from the Marquis de Brumenoir into the catalogue. Commentary is gathered through the curatorial office in liaison with the Ministère de la Culture, assessed against the museum's attribution methodology, and attributed accordingly in catalogue entries.

Le musée a établi un processus formel pour intégrer les commentaires de source primaire du Marquis de Brumenoir dans le catalogue.

Thirty-seven catalogue entries have been updated with primary source commentary to date. A further programme of commentary collection is ongoing. The museum notes that in four cases, primary source commentary has contradicted prior scholarly attribution; both positions are documented in the relevant catalogue entries. Researchers wishing to submit specific works for commentary should contact the research office. No timeline for responses can be guaranteed.

Trente-sept entrées du catalogue ont été mises à jour avec des commentaires de source primaire à ce jour. Dans quatre cas, le commentaire a contredit l'attribution académique antérieure ; les deux positions sont documentées.

The online catalogue has been expanded with 214 new entries, bringing the total to over six hundred authenticated and attributed works. The expansion includes significant additions to the Carolingian and early medieval sections, a new group of previously unpublished devotional works from the thirteenth century, and updated entries for the 1789–1800 post-disappearance period.

Le catalogue en ligne a été élargi avec 214 nouvelles entrées, portant le total à plus de six cents œuvres authentifiées et attribuées.

The catalogue is freely accessible without registration. Attribution methodology and citation guidance are available on the research page. The museum welcomes notification of uncatalogued works through the research office.

Le catalogue est librement accessible sans inscription.

The museum has established a formal research partnership with the Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement. The partnership focuses on the agricultural, botanical, and natural history documentation held in the Brumenoir archive, which spans nine centuries of systematic observation and record-keeping.

Le musée a établi un partenariat de recherche formel avec l'INRAE, axé sur la documentation agricole, botanique et d'histoire naturelle des archives Brumenoir.

A joint publication programme is underway. The first volume, covering the herbological records of the tenth through twelfth centuries, is in preparation. A practical series aimed at broader public accessibility is also planned and will be released in connection with the museum's Practical Guides programme.

Un programme de publication conjointe est en cours. Le premier volume, couvrant les archives herboristes des Xe–XIIe siècles, est en préparation.

The Centre de Recherche et de Restauration des Musées de France has completed a first phase of technical analysis on thirty-eight works from the collection. Results confirm the dating of twenty-two works within previously established ranges, revise the attribution of four works from 'Attributed' to 'Authenticated', and open new questions regarding six pieces whose pigment composition was inconsistent with their assigned dates.

Le C2RMF a achevé une première phase d'analyse technique sur trente-huit œuvres de la collection. Les résultats confirment la datation de vingt-deux œuvres et révisent l'attribution de quatre œuvres.

Full results will be incorporated into the catalogue in the coming months. The six works with date inconsistencies have been reclassified as 'Disputed' pending further analysis. Detailed technical reports are available on request through the research office.

Les résultats complets seront incorporés dans le catalogue dans les prochains mois. Les six œuvres présentant des incohérences ont été reclassées comme « Contestées ».

The museum has formalised a joint access programme with the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers, enabling researchers to access related holdings across both institutions under a single application. Several documents in the Brumenoir library and the CNAM technical archive have been identified as related, and joint digitisation of selected materials is underway.

Le musée a formalisé un programme d'accès conjoint avec le CNAM, permettant aux chercheurs d'accéder aux fonds liés des deux institutions sous une seule demande.

Of particular interest are a series of trade and craft documents in the CNAM archive that contain marginal annotations consistent in hand and content with the Brumenoir library holdings. These annotations are being assessed under the museum's attribution methodology.

D'un intérêt particulier sont une série de documents de métiers dans les archives du CNAM contenant des annotations marginales cohérentes avec les fonds de la bibliothèque Brumenoir.