The museum's main partner : the CIC

Since 2003 the CIC bank has been supporting the museum's cultural and heritage project through an important, dynamic and wide-ranging partnership that is continually developing.

In 2002, CIC was asked to contribute to the commemoration of the bicentenary of the Saint-Cyr military school, with the main event taking place in the Hôtel des Invalides. This was a chance for the bank's directors to visit this prestigious setting.

CIC is the oldest deposit bank in France. It was set up on 7 May 1859 by a decree made by Napoleon III. The bank wanted to develop an emblematic partnership linked to its values and aims.

The partnership between the Musée de l’Armée and CIC focuses today on four themes:

• contributions to major heritage renovation projects
• the music season
• cultural and educational productions
• one-off events

Contributions to major heritage renovation projects

The Musée de l’Armée had just launched the Athena renovation and modernisation programme in 2003 and was in search of funding to restore the murals of the former refectory areas painted by Joseph Parrocel, Louis XIV's battle painter.

The agreement signed for the restoration work was soon extended to other heritage projects: the publication of two books, devoted to the Arms and Armour of the Crown collection and to Joseph Parrocel at the Invalides, and more recently, to funding work on the vast glass roof over the entrance to the Dome church and the creation of a military music room.

Music season

CIC is the exclusive sponsor of the Victoires de la Musique Classique awards. Since 2003, the bank has helped to expand the museum's classical music season to include a dozen concerts featuring the award's prize-winners and nominees.

To highlight the event, CIC has been joined by the Radio Classique station since 2014.

Cultural and educational productions

The CIC bank works alongside the museum in its outreach policy and in educational activities aiming to raise awareness about French history and about the Hôtel des Invalides among the general public and young people in particular.

After Napoleon III and Italy, Musketeers! and Seen from the Front. Portraying the Great War, the bank decided to sponsor all the museum's annual temporary exhibitions until the end of 2018. The cycle began in 2015 with Churchill-De Gaulle and Knights and Bombards. From Agincourt to Marignan, 1415-1515, and continued in 2016 with the exhibitions Napoleon on Saint-Helena. His Fight for His Story and Secret Wars, in 2017, with the exhibitions France-Germany 1870-1871. The War, the Commune, Remembrance and In a Soldier's Skin. From Ancient Rome to the Present Day.

This was also a chance for CIC to expand its contribution by funding the design and production of long-lasting multimedia tools that would then be deployed in the museum's permanent exhibition areas, helping to complete, enrich and bring dynamism to visits.

For Knights and Bombards, the multimedia tools were used to give a detailed account of the two battles featured in the visit, placing the weapons, armour and artillery on display in their context and providing an echo to the illuminated manuscripts and the series of drawings describing the battles. As with the reconstitution of a square pikemen formation, for example, they give an idea of the size and scale of the fighting.

Lastly, because exhibitions today need to be both virtual and accessible to everyone at all times, the Musée de l’Armée application was launched in September 2015 to bring the work of the museum to wider attention and to raise awareness among a broad range of publics of everything it has to offer. The application can be downloaded free of charge from the AppStore and Google Play.

One-off events

The bank's support was mentioned in an episode of the television programme Des Racines et des Ailes, which CIC was also sponsoring, about the Hôtel des Invalides. For six years, the bank also helped to co-produce public concerts in the main courtyard during the Fête de la Musique. The concerts were broadcast on the France 3 TV channel.

CIC contributes directly and actively to promoting and raising awareness of this exceptional site – a centre for social links and national cohesion – by organising seminars, conferences and visits for its own staff, customers and contacts.