The Musée de l’Image and the Imagerie d’Épinal both stand on the same site known as the Cité de l’Image.
The Musée de l’Image was built beside the former Imagerie Pellerin, which still stands today and where you can visit the traditional workshops, find out about printing techniques and buy images.
So the Imagerie d’Épinal and the Musée de l’Image should be seen together. The ticket office covers both establishments, offering a combined ticket so you can visit the whole Cité de l’Image.
Why’s the Museum of Images in Épinal?
The town of Épinal is known throughout Europe for its image-making tradition. Épinal’s image-makers were originally card and decorative paper makers and produced images on sheets of paper from the 18th century onwards, but it was the Pinot and Pellerin image printing houses that really put the town on the map during the 19th century.
The local council decided to make the most of this heritage in 2003 by creating the Musée de l’Image. Situated beside the Imagerie d’Épinal, the Museum currently houses one of the biggest collections of popular French and foreign images (over 100,000) from the 17th century to the present day.
What do the images tell us?
By their nature, images are always a reflection of the society that created them. Through these images, the Museum traces the development of our customs, tastes and popular culture. Since it opened, the Museum has organised exhibitions on a variety of different themes, including Napoleon, Perrault's fairy tales, the Americas and the 1960s. It is constantly expanding its offering, comparing the images of yesteryear with those of today, so that each sheds light on the other.
