The François Pétrarque Museum-Library is located in the town of Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, in the Vaucluse department, 13 km northeast of Cavaillon.
It was founded in 1927 in a partly troglodyte dwelling built on the site where the poet and humanist François Pétrarque (1304-1374), of Florentine origin, stayed on several occasions.
He had discovered the site as a child, with his father, and later, the house where he lived, on the edge of the Sorgue, was located at the foot of the cliff and under the castle of his friend the bishop of Cavaillon, Philip of Cabassole.
Over the centuries, the place was a place of "pilgrimage" for great writers who considered Petrarch to be an essential pioneer in the history of letters: Casanova, Mirabeau, Lamartine, Châteaubriant, George Sand, Stendhal did so the trip to Fontaine-de-Vaucluse. Initially, before the First World War, manuscripts and old editions were presented.
The museum was acquired in 1968 by the Department and was dedicated in addition to the work of the poet René Char (1907-1988), from the neighboring town of L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, and to the artists contemporaries inspired by the writings of the two poets who are eight centuries apart.
Labeled Museum of France and Maison des Illustres, the museum houses works by Georges Braque, Alberto Giacometti, Joan Miró, Pablo Picasso…
The tour begins with the charming garden. On the ground floor are presented the great names of modern art mentioned above, via autograph letters, manuscripts, aphorisms on pebbles, paintings on wood or original photographs which thus illustrate the "country of sources"... On the first floor floor, a collection of portraits of Petrarch and his wife helps to understand the birth and development of a literary myth and restores the character of this inspired and inspiring place that was Fontaine-de-Vaucluse. On the second floor, is presented the "treasure of the waters", a set of ancient coins discovered in 2003 (offerings deposited at the level of the nearby source) and are exhibited works evoking this other local myth.
Open from April to September from Thursday to Monday. Admission: 3 to 5 euros. Information on +33 4 90 20 37 20.
