The Pantheon, one of Paris’ best-loved architectural landmarks, is currently enveloped in 315 tonnes of scaffolding, as a part of a massive €100 million, 10 year restoration campaign. But, thanks to street art favorite JR, the 250 year old structure will be no eyesore while under wraps, covered instead in a mosaic of 500 portraits. French minister of culture, Aurélie Filippetti, unveiled the work, titled Au Pantheon!, on Tuesday.
Commissioned by the Centre des Monuments Nationaux the work takes its cues his ongoing project Inside Out. That project began in March 2011 after JR received the Ted Prize. Since then he has collected over 155,000 portraits of individuals from over 100 countries.
For Au Pantheon!, JR combined a selection of those previous portraits with others taken at nine national French monuments this March. The portraits were then turned into composite photographs which are now displayed on the outside of the drum beneath the dome and at various other locations within the monument. Check out some of the highlights of the unveiling, below.
Photo: Au Pantheon
Photo: instagram @jr
Photo: instagram @jr
Photo: instagram @jr
Photo: instagram @jr
Photo: instagram @jr