The Metropolitan Museum of Art project is an exceptional collaboration between Semitour Périgord and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. This international partnership involves two organisations that share the same vision: to bring masterpieces to life and to revive the history of the Château de Biron.
The adventure began in May 1907, when John Piermont Morgan, president of the Metropolitan Museum, acquired two emblematic Renaissance sculptures from the Marquis de Biron. These works, a Pietà and an Entombment of Christ, had been brought back to France by Ponce de Gontaut-Biron after the Italian wars (1494-1559) and were removed from the chapel of Château Biron.
In 2022, the project took on a new dimension with the launch of the first 3D prints and the use of photogrammetry to guarantee faithful reproductions of the original sculptures. The following year, the AFSP began the painstaking reconstruction of the Pietà, marking a key stage in the project.
On October 23rd 2023, the facsimile of the Pietà was installed in the chapel of the Château de Biron, in the exact place where the original work had stood. This symbolic moment marked the beginning of the revival of this historic site. A few months later, during the European Heritage Days, the copy of the Entombment of Christ was returned to its place beside the Pietà, thus completing this monumental project.
With this major project, Semitour Périgord reaffirms its commitment to the region’s historical heritage. Thanks to the work of the ASFP and its collaboration with the MET, Semitour is demonstrating its desire to pass on these treasures of the past to future generations.