Following the previous ‘Le Cirque Plume, l’éternité du saut périlleux’, this new exhibition pays homage to the great men and women of the circus through two exceptional collections – one owned by Dr Alain Frère and the other by the Mucem de Marseille.

Here we present a collection of original costumes, posters, musical instruments, illustrations and films that evoke the art of the circus from the 18th century to the present – a world which offers to spectators an encounter with the exceptional, the fantastical, the extraordinary… 

It is a battleground for gladiators, an arena for acrobats, a showground for horse-riders, an amphitheatre for equestrian displays and parades, for the tightropes of Madame Saqui and Con Colleano, and for the clowning antics of Grock and the Fratellinis.

With the fabulous watercolours of the Vesque sisters, the unique designs of the great costumier Gérard Vicaire and the painting of Zingaro by Charles Belle, this exhibition shines a light on the extraordinary world of the circus and its people.