Construction of church 1860 (≈ 1860)
Building of Saint-Hugues-de-Chartrouse, future museum.
1952
Start of Arcabas frescoes
Start of Arcabas frescoes 1952 (≈ 1952)
First frieze painted with egg and honey.
1972
Added *Crown *
Added *Crown * 1972 (≈ 1972)
Chromatic and golden enrichment of the work.
1984
Become a departmental museum
Become a departmental museum 1984 (≈ 1984)
The church is officially a museum.
1992
The dead Christ of Arcabas
The dead Christ of Arcabas 1992 (≈ 1992)
Last work in tribute to Curé Truffot.
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui Aujourd'hui (≈ 2025)
Position de référence.
Key figures
Arcabas - Artist painter
Unique creator of the 111 works of the museum.
Raymond Truffot - Curé de Saint-Hugues
Initiator of the artistic project with Arcabas.
Saint Bruno - Founder of Chartreux
Set up the monastic order in 1084.
Origin and history
The Arcabas Museum in Chartreuse is a departmental museum located in the church of Saint-Hugues-de-Chartrouse, built in 1860 in the heart of the Chartreuse Massif. This unique place houses a collection of 111 works made by the artist Arcabas over more than thirty years, forming one of the major works of sacred art of the twentieth century. The church, transformed into a museum in 1984, illustrates the spiritual and artistic vision of its creator, through frescoes, canvases and installations that combine religious symbolism and modernity.
The artistic adventure began in 1952, when Arcabas, then a 25-year-old painter, met parish priest Raymond Truffot and proposed to decorate the church for free in renovation. A frieze on jute canvas, painted with egg, sugar and honey, belt then the building, connecting the nave to the choir by frescoes. In 1972, the artist added Le Coronement, enriched with chromatic and golden circles, and then completed the ensemble in 1985 with a Predelle of 53 canvases. His final contribution, The Dead Christ (1992), pays tribute to the deceased priest Truffot.
The Massif de la Chartreuse, a natural setting of the museum, is marked by a monastic history almost a thousand years old, since the installation of Saint Bruno in 1084. This territory, shared between Isère and Savoie until 1860, combines forest heritage, traditional agriculture and green tourism. The Chartreuse Regional Natural Park, established in 1995, aims to preserve this heritage while stimulating the local economy. The sacred art of Arcabas is inscribed as a dialogue between faith, art and landscape.
The work of Arcabas is structured into three registers: a narrative frieze (1952) evoking the commandments and divine life, a chromatic ensemble (1972) symbolizing the sacred, and canvases illustrating his vision of biblical texts. This project, originally abandoned and then taken over, became a departmental museum in 1984, consolidating the reputation of Saint-Pierre-de-Chartrouse as a place of artistic and spiritual pilgrimage.
The Chartreuse, a massif pre-alpine with peaks exceeding 2,000 meters, also owes its reputation to the Chartreux monks and their iconic liquor. Today, the Arcabas Museum attracts visitors through its stylistic unit and its anchoring in a territory where nature, history and contemporary creation respond.
