Placing the sign back into context to understand its history
The “Au Nègre Joyeux” sign was hung on the façade of a fine food store located at 14, Rue Mouffetard; it was present in the public space from 1897 to 2018. In 2018, the painting was vandalised. The sign was then taken down and restored. The painting with its explanatory label is now on display in the permanent collection of the Carnavalet Museum – History of Paris, which reopened in 2021.
The "L’enseigne de la Contrescarpe" site dives deep into the history of this sign.
