As part of the interdisciplinary project “Digital Delacroix”, Nathalie Drach-Temam, President of Sorbonne University, and Yaël Braun-Pivet, President of the National Assembly, signed an institutional partnership agreement on Tuesday, April 8, 2025. This agreement marks their shared commitment to research, the promotion, and the dissemination of cultural heritage. The signing took place on the occasion of the restoration by the National Assembly of the ceiling of the Palais Bourbon Library, painted by Eugène Delacroix.

This historic partnership is exemplified through the “Digital Delacroix” project, an interdisciplinary program that combines artificial intelligence, 3D modeling, art history, and digital humanities. Thanks to this initiative, led by Professor Barthélemy Jobert, experts from Sorbonne University can now analyze, with unprecedented precision, the exceptional works of Eugène Delacroix and his assistants, which adorn the ceilings of the National Assembly Library. They can also delve into the numerous letters of the French painter, offering a new perspective on his work and creative process.

This project illustrates the union of heritage, the arts, and scientific innovation. It is an innovative initiative that employs the most advanced technologies to uncover the secrets and the great artistic and technical complexity of the monumental decoration created by the master of Romanticism. This collaboration between Sorbonne University and the National Assembly is a unique opportunity to promote Science, Research, Art History, and the valorization of our shared Heritage, with the goal of making these works accessible to the public, particularly through the digitization of the visitor experience.

The “Digital Delacroix” project is structured around three components:

An art history and 3D modeling component, with the André Chastel Center, SCAI, and PLEMO 3D: a photographic campaign with very high-quality images (more than 10,000 shots), enabling in-depth analysis of the works, revealing details invisible to the naked eye and creating an exceptional documentary base.
An Artificial Intelligence component, with SCAI and LAMS, in collaboration with the French Museums Restoration Center: scientific analysis of the decoration, identifying areas painted by Delacroix and those completed by his assistants.
A Digital Humanities component, with Obtic: restoration work supporting the analysis of Delacroix's correspondence through text mining.

This project is strongly supported by the Schmidt Science Foundation, co-founded by Éric and Wendy Schmidt.