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MuCEM Raises Gold Replica of the ‘Bonne Mère’ to Face the Original Across the Vieux-Port

The piece ties the museum’s motherhood show to Marseille’s skyline by blending 19th-century craft with 3D design.

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VIDÉO. La réplique de la Bonne Mère a été inaugurée au Mucem à Marseille ce mercredi

Overview

  • A three-metre, gold-covered copy of the Virgin of Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde now crowns MuCEM’s Tour du Roi René as part of the Bonnes Mères exhibition.
  • Christofle built the replica with 3D scans and modeling while drawing on its 1869 know-how in galvanoplasty, a 19th-century electroforming method used for the original.
  • Positioned to look toward the basilica across the harbor, the smaller figure can appear nearly the same size as the 11.2-metre original because of perspective.
  • The sculpture is free to view from MuCEM’s outdoor areas, though it faces the sea, so a full head-on view is only possible from boats.
  • The museum says the work will stay in Marseille through September before touring with the show to other museums, following early turnout of about 43,000 visitors in a month.