Les Collections Iconographiques de la Direction du Patrimoine

La Direction du Patrimoine is the successor of the Commission des Monuments historiques, which from its inception in 1837 was responsible for identifying, compiling an inventory of, and restoring, historic buildings. During the 19th century, this meant, in effect, medieval ecclesiastical structures and sites. From the beginning the Commission was careful to safeguard its papers, including drawings and plans of specific buildings; a number of volumes illustrating the nation’s architectural heritage were published in the second half of the 19th century; drawings, and photographs, were commissioned, and a library was assembled. From the 1860s the Commission employed photographers on its staff and efforts were made to record those buildings for which the state was responsible. The documentary resources which accumulated became known as the Bibliothèque des Monuments historiques. Recent decades have witnessed the devolution of the management of historical monuments, while the documentary collections are being cared for, exploited, and developed in a wider context, embracing secular, industrial, vernacular, and modern architecture, as well as art, photography itself, and artefacts from everyday life, to provide the broadest possible documentation of the French cultural heritage. A computer system is used, and many photographic images are being transferred to videodisc.