Art and Science: the project “The Roots of Colour”

Through this ACTE project (“Artistic Project in an Educational Territory)”, pupils from two Year 7 classes and one Year 8 class explore the relationship between science and the arts, as well as the impact of this relationship on the preservation of heritage artworks. “How can plant science inform the art of painting and contribute to the prevention and conservation of works of art?” is the central question addressed over the course of the school year 2025-2026. The project offers to pupils the opportunity to discover the connections between botany, chemistry and the visual arts. Using dye from plants, the pupils will experiment with extracting natural pigments, compare their properties with those of mineral pigments, test binders and supports, and assess the stability of the paints. A reflection on the conservation of artworks and an introduction to restoration professions will further enrich the programme.

This multidisciplinary project was initiated by Betty Cottyn, a chemist and researcher at the IJPB. It originates from the outreach scientific workshop created on plant-based pigments at the IJPB. It is carried out by teachers of biology, physics–chemistry, French and visual arts. The latter, formerly a liaison teacher with the Château de Versailles, enabled the organisation of visits to the château on the theme of colour—red and blue—including a discussion on the conservation of artworks. These visits will serve as inspiration for a large-format watercolour workshop with the artist Sébastien Cailleux, who is behind the Arenguade project with the Château de Versailles (IJPB news, 21/10/24).

In an initial phase, pupils attended workshops at the school during which they prepared plant pigments and discovered vegetable oils with INRAE scientists who are members of the IJPB outreach group. In a second phase, the two Year 7 classes visited the IJPB greenhouses and the PO-Cyto “Cytology/Imaging” platform. They also took part in a watercolour workshop with Sébastien Cailleux. The small watercolours produced during the workshop and reworked in class will be used to create a mosaic. At the end of the school year, the pupils’ work will be presented in an exhibition. 

With the support of the Saclay Plant Sciences (SPS) network and the IJPB,


workshop at school with Betty Cottyn and Laury Kermogant

Greehouses visit with the Lilian Dahuron and  Marine Froissard



Visit of the "The Plant Observatory - Cytology/Imaging" plateform PO-Cyto with Aurélie Dewaele, Néro Borrega and Samantha Vernhettes,



Watercolor workshop at the IJPB




Small watercolor painting from the two classesbasis of the future mosaic



Workshops based on research developed at the Institute Jean-Pierre Bourgin for Plant Sciences.