Banque de France

The Real Estate Department of Banque de France asked Mathilde Jonquière for the creation of a 20 m² mosaic fresco in the Valois restaurant, a place where staff at the Banque de France can meet, at 31 rue Croix-des-Petits-Champs in Paris, have lunch and socialize. From the entrance of the restaurant, the artwork majestically unfurls in the center of the space, radiating light through its myriad of 24-carat gold tesserae, cut one by one into rods in the proportional dimensions of a gold ingot, in the image of “la Souterraine”. Two polished brass semi-circles at each end of the fresco symbolize the interaction between two light waves, giving birth to undulating lines in shades and gradations of warm yellow and brown colors composed of tesserae in stoneware, glass paste and gemstone. At the center of this radiant composition stand multiple straight lines in brass, like a seal representing the logo of the Banque de France. This rigorous gesture, symbolic, acts as an anchor for the whole and offers a subtle transition between this functional space and the sensitive territory of Mathilde Jonquière, which invites to poetic reflection on sharing, conviviality and interconnection.