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Musée de Cluny
 
 
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The Musée de Cluny, officially known as Musée National du Moyen Âge (National Museum of the Middle Ages in English), is a museum
Museum

A museum is a "permanent institution in the service of society and of its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment, for the purposes of education, study, and entertainment", as defined by the International Coun...
 in Paris
Paris

Paris is the Capital of France and the country's largest city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the ?le-de-France Regions of France ....
, France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
.






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Musee De Cluny 1
Lady and the Unicorn 1
Thermes De Cluny Caldarium
The Musée de Cluny, officially known as Musée National du Moyen Âge (National Museum of the Middle Ages in English), is a museum
Museum

A museum is a "permanent institution in the service of society and of its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment, for the purposes of education, study, and entertainment", as defined by the International Coun...
 in Paris
Paris

Paris is the Capital of France and the country's largest city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the ?le-de-France Regions of France ....
, France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
. It is located in the 5th arrondissement
Ve arrondissement

rrondissementnumber=5th|commune=Paris|image=|caption=View over the 5th arrondissement, dominated by the Panth?on, Paris.|map=paris_5e_arr_jms.gif|...
 at 6 Place Paul Painlevé, south of the Boulevard Saint-Germain
Boulevard Saint-Germain

The Boulevard Saint-Germain is a major street in Paris on the Rive Gauche of the Seine river. It curves in an arc from the Pont de Sully in the east to the Pont de la Concorde in the west and traverses the 5th, 6th and 7th Arrondissements of Paris....
, between the Boulevard Saint-Michel
Boulevard Saint-Michel

The Boulevard Saint-Michel is one of the two major streets in the Latin Quarter of Paris . It is a tree-lined boulevard which runs south from the pont Saint-Michel on the Seine river and the Place Saint-Michel, crosses the boulevard Saint-Germain and continues alongside the Sorbonne and the jardin du Luxembourg, ending at the Place Camille Ju...
 and the Rue Saint-Jacques.

The Hôtel de Cluny

The structure is perhaps the most outstanding example still extant of civic architecture
Architecture

The term architecture can refer to a process, a profession or documentation.As a process, architecture is the activity of designing and construction buildings and other physical structures by a person or a computer, primarily to provide shelter....
 in medieval Paris. It was formerly the town house (hôtel
Hotel

----A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including Bathroom#Types of bathroomss and air conditioning or clima...
) of the abbots of Cluny, started in 1334. The structure was rebuilt by Jacques d'Amboise, abbot in commendam
In Commendam

In canon law, commendam was a form of transferring an Benefice in trust to the custody of a Patronage. The practice of benefices held in commendam came into widespread use and abuse in the 14th and 15th centuries, but the origins can be found in the Early Middle Ages; then, during periods of upheaval and invasion, church property...
 of Cluny 1485-1510; it combines Gothic
Gothic architecture

Gothic architecture is a style of architecture which flourished during the high and late Middle Ages. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
 and Renaissance
Renaissance

The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe....
 elements. In 1843 it was made into a public museum, to contain relics of France's Gothic past preserved in the building by Alexandre du Sommerard
Alexandre Du Sommerard

Alexandre Du Sommerard was a French archaeologist and art collector....
. It no longer possesses anything originally connected with the abbey of Cluny.

Originally the hôtel, was part of a larger Cluniac complex that also included a building (no longer standing) for a religious college in the Place de la Sorbonne (just south of the present day Hôtel de Cluny along Boulevard Saint-Michel). Although originally intended for the use of the Cluny abbots, the residence was taken over by Jacques d'Amboise
Jacques d'Amboise (bishop)

Jacques d'Amboise was a French religious dignitary and patron of medieval France. He was abbot of Abbaye de Jumi?ges then of Abbaye de Cluny, and bishop of Clermont....
, Bishop of Clermont and Abbot of Jumièges, and rebuilt to its present form in the period of 1485-1500.(Horne 2004:62). Occupants of the house over the years have included Mary Tudor
Mary Tudor (queen consort of France)

Mary Tudor was the younger sister of Henry VIII of England and queen consort of France due to her marriage to Louis XII of France. After his death, she married Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk....
, who was installed here after the death of her husband Louis XII by his successor Francis I of France
Francis I of France

Francis I , was crowned King of France in 1515 in the cathedral at Reims and reigned until 1547.Francis I is considered to be France's first Renaissance monarch....
 in 1515 so he could watch her more closely, particularly to see if she was pregnant. Seventeenth-century occupants included several papal nuncios including Mazarin. (Horne 200$:65).

In 1793 it was confiscated by the state, and for the next three decades served several functions. At one point it was owned by a physician who used the magnificent Flamboyant
Flamboyant

Flamboyant is the name given to a florid style of late Gothic architecture architecture in vogue in France, Spain and Portugal during the 15th century; the equivalent period in English architecture is called Perpendicular architecture, and in Germany the Sondergotik....
 chapel on the first floor as a dissection room. (Michelin at 265-266).

In 1833 Alexandre du Sommerard moved here and installed here his large collection of medieval and Renaissance objects. (Album de Museé at 5). Upon his death in 1842 the collection was purchased by the state and opened in 1843, with his son as the museum's first curator. The present gardens, opened in 1971, include a "Forêt de la Licorne" inspired by the tapestries.

The Hôtel de Cluny is partially constructed on the remains of Gallo-Roman baths
Thermae

The terms balnea or thermae were the words the Ancient Rome used for the buildings housing their public baths.Most Roman cities had at least one, if not many, such buildings, which were centers of public bathing and socialization....
 dating from the third century (known as the Thermes de Cluny
Thermes de Cluny

Thermes de Cluny are an ancient Gallo-Roman ruin lying in the heart of Paris' 5th arrondissement of Paris and which are partly subsumed into the Mus?e de Cluny....
 ), which are famous in their own right and which may still be visited. In fact, the museum itself actually consists of two buildings: the frigidarium
Frigidarium

A frigidarium is a large cold pool to drop into after enjoying a hot Thermae. The Caldarium and the Tepidarium opened the pores of the skin. The cold water would close the pores....
 ("cooling room"), where the remains of the Thermes de Cluny are, and the Hôtel de Cluny itself, which houses its impressive collections.

Sources

  • ‘’Seven Ages of Paris’’, Alistair Horne, (ISBN 1-4000-3446-9) 2004
  • ‘’Michelin, the Green Guide: Paris’’, (ISBN 2060008735), 2001
  • Album de Museé national du Moyen Age Thermes de Cluny, Pierre-Yves Le Pogam, Dany Sandron (ISBN 2-7118-2777-1) En español mejor


The museum

The Musée de Cluny houses a variety of important medieval artifacts, in particular its tapestry
Tapestry

Tapestry is a form of textile art. It is Weaving by hand on a vertical loom. It is weft-faced weaving, in which all the warp threads are hidden in the completed work, unlike cloth weaving where both the warp and the weft threads may be visible....
 collection, which includes La Dame à la Licorne (The Lady and the Unicorn
The Lady and the Unicorn

The Lady and the Unicorn is the modern title given to a series of six tapestry woven in Flanders of wool and silk, from designs drawn in Paris in the late fifteenth century, The suite is often considered one of the greatest works of art of the Middle Ages in Europe....
) from the tapestry cycle of the same name, consisting of a series of six.

Other notable works stored there include early Medieval sculptures from the seventh and eighth centuries. There are also works of gold, ivory, antique furnishings, and illuminated manuscripts.

Miscellaneous

  • The Hôtel Cluny Sorbonne, built in the early 1870s at 8 rue Victor Cousin, Ve arrondissement, is alleged to be haunted by Verlaine
    Paul Verlaine

    Paul-Marie Verlaine was a French poet associated with the Symbolism movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the fin de si?cle in international and French poetry....
     and Rimbaud
    Arthur Rimbaud

    Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud was a French people poet, born in Charleville-M?zi?res. As part of the decadent movement, his influence on modern literature, music and art has been enduring and pervasive....
    .


See also

  • List of museums in Paris
    List of museums in Paris

    The museums of Paris can be sorted into three categories:* National museums - * Museums of the City of Paris - * The private museums - ...


External links

  • Official website, in French
    French language

    French is a Romance language spoken around the world by around 80 million people as first language, by 190 million as second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired tongue, with significant speakers in 54 countries....
    :
  • Official website, in English
    English language

    English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...
    :