Rouages: “At the Intersection of Conservation and Research”
Marie-Angeline Pinail and Caroline Loup work in the Historical Heritage Department. The former is the university collections manager and is in charge of the collections at the School of Medicine. The latter is the scientific director of the herbarium. This month, as part of the video series “ Rouages ” video series, they tell us about their work.
We meet Caroline Loup and Marie-Angeline Pinail on the first floor of the Institute of Botany, at the very end of a long hallway decorated with nature photographs and old laboratory furniture. Together with their colleague Audrey Theron, they make up the Historical Heritage Department, headed by Véronique Bourgade. Their mission: to preserve, manage, and promote the collections of the University of Montpellier.
At the intersection of conservation and research
Just a few meters away is the entrance tothe herbarium. One of the largest in France,“it ranks among the top three, after Paris—which is among the world’s best—and after the one in Lyon,” explains Caroline Loup. Spanning six floors, it houses between two and three million specimens organized on more than five kilometers of shelving.“These are specimens that I must organize, inventory, and classify to make them accessible to researchers, for whom the herbarium is a scientific tool. They can take samples from these specimens, analyze them, and compare them. I really find myself at the intersection of conservation and research.”
[*Listen to our podcast on the herbarium]
And indeed, before taking on this position, Caroline Loup worked in research:“I have a Ph.D. in botany. I worked in a wood mechanics laboratory in Montpellier before coming to work at the herbarium.” She continues to draw on this training by participating in conferences, contributing to publications, and playing an active role in the national Recolnat network, a scientific interest group led by the Natural History Museum. “Recolnat is a national network, but we are in constant contact with collections around the world. Thanks to this network, we received funding between 2013 and 2019 to digitize all of our specimens.”
Art Courier
As the university’s collections manager, Marie-Angeline Pinail also interacts with many different professionals. Scientists, of course, but also curators, art restorers, transporters, and exhibition designers whom she meets during her travels. “As a collections manager, I coordinate the administrative, legal, and logistical aspects of moving the collections—whether for loans to outside institutions or for on-site relocations , such as transfers prior to construction work or the setup of exhibitions.”
The work currently underway at the anatomy museum has kept Marie-Angeline busy for many months:“Removing the collections to store them in the holding area is a huge undertaking. We need to keep the specimens most frequently requested by researchers or for loans within easy reach.” To compensate for the closure of the museum—which won’t reopen until the start of the 2022 academic year—Marie-Angeline Pinail, with the help of Caroline Loup, also organized the exhibition“Corps à cœur,”which showcases a selection of this anatomy collection.
In addition to these local transfers , Marie-Angeline oversees the transport of each work of art when it is loaned to museums. These loans are particularly important because they help fund the restoration of the works. Among her fondest memories, she cites this“transport—a memorable moment in my career—to the MET in New York in 2018 to accompany Alphonse Lamy’s *Bêcheur*, the conservatory’s mascot.” She knows this conservatory all the better because she is also in charge of it in her second role: collections manager at the Faculty of Medicine.
Learning "on the job"
Marie-Angeline Pinail joined theUM 2015, after a stint at the Fashion Museum in Marseille.“I have a background in art history and heritage management and conservation, but I really knew nothing about anatomy.” And yet, with its 13,000 specimens—including natural specimens, wax models, terracotta casts, and fluid-filled specimens—the Montpellier Anatomy Conservatory boasts one of the largest collections in France. “I consider it a privilege to work there, not only because it’s a prestigious institution but also because it exudes an almost sacred atmosphere due to the presence of so many human and animal remains.”
*[Listen to our podcast about the conservatory]
A sense of privilege that Caroline Loup also feels among the shelves of her paper kingdom:“In the herbarium, I travel every day. I can spend the morning in North Africa and the afternoon on the islands. I can take a trip tothe 18th century and come back to 2020. ” It’s a multifaceted profession that requires her to delve into botany as well as history and geography, and to decipher scripts ranging from Chinese to Latin to Russian. “Ultimately, it requires a high level of technical skill, which I’ve learned on the jobwith curiosity and enjoyment. It’s truly a profession where I never get bored.”
Caroline Loup's Favorite Sample
My favorite specimen is a lotus leaf that was collected at the Jardin des Plantes in Montpellier. The person who collected it injected ink into two of the six channels running through the leaf to see if there was any exchange between the vessels. To me, this specimen perfectly illustrates the connection between conservation and research.
Marie-Angeline Pinail's Favorite Play
My favorite piece is a papier-mâché lung from the Louis Auzoux collection, which dates back tothe 19th century. When I arrived atUM 2015, I was tasked with unpacking boxes, and in the very first one I opened, I found a natural specimen: a human lung. It was the first time I’d ever held real human lungs in my hands, and it made a deep impression on me. When I saw Louis Auzoux’s piece, I was so struck by the resemblance that it instantly became my favorite.