Patronage campaign: the adventure continues
On April 22, 2025, the Museums of Orléans and the Friends of the Museums launched a fund-raising campaign to acquire a painting by the painter Jean-Antoine Laurent, who in 1819 captured the memory of his visit to Joan of Arc's birthplace with the engineer Jean-Baptiste Jollois and his assistant, the draughtsman Charles Pensée, at the end of which they recommended to King Louis XVIII that it be restored and made a national monument. Joan of Arc had just made history.
These two people from Orléans, to whom we owe the development of the city's drinking water network and the first excavations of Gallo-Roman remains, and to whom we owe the numerous paintings and watercolours of picturesque 19th-century Orléans, set hearts aflame during the Joan of Arc celebrations: in thirteen days, 157 donors raised the 30,000 euros needed for the acquisition. Never has mobilization been so rapid and enthusiastic! The list of patrons will soon be published, and will continue to write the history of this museum, which was opened 200 years ago, in 1825, thanks to donations from the people of Orléans.
The adventure continues through to the end of the holiday season!
The campaign will close on Sunday May 11, at the end of the Fêtes de Jeanne d'Arc. Until then, the campaign continues, and additional donations will now enable the purchase from the same gallery of a spectacular watercolor of Orléans Cathedral painted in 1835 by François Etienne Villeret (1798-1852), six years after its inauguration.... under the gaze of Jollois and Pensée!
Tax information for individuals and companies
Individuals: you can benefit from a tax reduction equal to 66% of the amount of your donation, up to a limit of 20% of your taxable income. If you are liable for the Impôt sur la Fortune Immobilière (property wealth tax), you can benefit from a reduction in your IFI equal to 75% of the amount of your donation, up to a limit of €50,000.
Companies: all payments qualify for a corporate tax reduction of 60% of the amount of such payments, capped at €20,000 or 5 ‰ (5 per thousand) of the company's annual sales excluding tax. If the ceiling is exceeded, the excess can be carried forward to the following 5 financial years.