Museum of Religious Art – Orne Departmental Council
A digital platform to promote a unique collection
The religious art museum of Sées, established in 1972 by the Orne Department in a building within the former cathedral district, houses a variety of artworks (paintings, sculptures, furniture, books, silverware, engravings and prints, textiles, various objects, etc.) from churches in the Orne region. Despite the quality of its collections, the physical museum could no longer fully fulfil its mediation role due to limited space: visitor movement was hindered, proximity to the artworks compromised safety, and on-site mediation was severely limited.
A unique experience on the borderline between virtual museum and resource centre
The Orne Departmental Council aimed to make its collection of over 1500 artworks accessible to a wide audience through a documented digital platform, including 2D and 3D scans. The digitised artworks have been integrated into the website developed by Inconito. The site was developed in Drupal headless, making it easy to administer content in a CMS with advanced content management, while offering a fluid, immersive browsing interface thanks to the React front end.
A virtual tour offering a fun and educational experience
An original navigation system offers a virtual 'wander', similar to that of a physical museum, with a 'wall' of works allowing visitors to discover works at random. A second type of itinerary is aimed at a more informed public wishing to carry out more precise research: works by period, materials, themes. Other features add to the experience: thematic trails that put the works in context, and 'surprise' trails that offer a fun way to discover them. All the works are explained in educational labels, accompanied by a glossary for easier understanding.
As part of this project, Inconito also managed the 2D and 3D digitisation of over 1,500 works, carried out by the Digitage company. These 2D and 3D objects are combined on the website with functions that allow visitors to 'manipulate' the works.