The
Musée de Cluny officially known as
Musée National du Moyen Âge (
National Museum of the Middle Ages), is a
museumA museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
in
ParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
,
FranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. It is located in the
5th arrondissementThe 5th arrondissement of Paris is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France.Situated on the left bank of the River Seine, it is one of the central arrondissements of the capital...
at 6 Place Paul Painlevé, south of the
Boulevard Saint-GermainThe Boulevard Saint-Germain is a major street in Paris on the Left Bank of the Seine river. It curves in a 3.5 kilometer 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...
, between the
Boulevard Saint-MichelThe 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...
and the Rue Saint-Jacques.
Among the principal holdings of the museum are the six
La Dame à la Licorne (
The Lady and the UnicornThe Lady and the Unicorn is the modern title given to a series of six tapestries woven in Flanders of wool and silk, from designs drawn in Paris in the late fifteenth century, The suite, on display in the Musée du Moyen-Âge, is often considered one of the greatest works of art of the Middle...
) tapestries, from the late fifteenth century, often considered one of the greatest works of art of the
Middle AgesThe Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
in
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
The Hôtel de Cluny
The structure is perhaps the most outstanding example still extant of civic
architectureArchitecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
in medieval Paris. It was formerly the town house (
hôtelA 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 en-suite bathrooms...
) of the abbots of Cluny, started in 1334. The structure was rebuilt by Jacques d'Amboise, abbot
in commendamIn canon law, commendam was a form of transferring an ecclesiastical benefice in trust to the custody of a patron...
of Cluny 1485-1510; it combines
GothicGothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
and
RenaissanceThe 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. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
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 SommerardAlexandre Du Sommerard was a French archaeologist and art collector.-Life:He volunteered for the army at 14 and took part in the French Revolutionary Wars...
.
Though it no longer possesses anything originally connected with the abbey of Cluny, the
hôtel was at first 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'AmboiseJacques d'Amboise was a French religious dignitary and patron of medieval France. He was abbot of Jumièges then of Cluny, and bishop of Clermont. He was a member of the House of Amboise, an old noble family.-Life:...
, Bishop of Clermont and Abbot of Jumièges, and rebuilt to its present form in the period of 1485-1500. Occupants of the house over the years have included
Mary TudorMary Tudor was the younger sister of King Henry VIII of England and queen consort of France through her marriage to Louis XII. The latter was more than 30 years her senior. Following his death, which occurred less than two months after her coronation as his third wife, she married Charles Brandon,...
, the sister of Henry VIII of England. She was installed here after the death of her husband Louis XII by his successor
Francis I of FranceFrancis I was King of France from 1515 until his death. During his reign, huge cultural changes took place in France and he has been called France's original Renaissance monarch...
in 1515; Francis wished to monitor Mary closely, particularly to see if she was pregnant. Seventeenth-century occupants included several papal nuncios, including Mazarin.
Later, it was used as an observatory by the astronomer
Charles MessierCharles Messier was a French astronomer most notable for publishing an astronomical catalogue consisting of deep sky objects such as nebulae and star clusters that came to be known as the 110 "Messier objects"...
, who in 1771 published his observations in the landmark Messier catalog. 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
FlamboyantFlamboyant is the name given to a florid style of late Gothic architecture in vogue in France from the 14th to the early 16th century, a version of which spread to Spain and Portugal during the 15th century; the equivalent stylistic period in English architecture is called the Decorated Style, and...
chapel on the first floor as a dissection room.
In 1833 Alexandre du Sommerard moved here and installed his large collection of medieval and Renaissance objects. Upon his death in 1842 the collection was purchased by the state; the building was opened as a museum in 1843, with du Sommerard's son serving as the 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
bathsIn ancient Rome, thermae and balnea were facilities for bathing...
dating from the third century (known as the
Thermes de ClunyThermes de Cluny are an ancient Gallo-Roman ruin lying in the heart of Paris' 5th arrondissement and which are partly subsumed into the Musée de Moyen Age-Hôtel 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
frigidariumA frigidarium is a large cold pool of Roman baths. It would be entered after the Caldarium and the Tepidarium, which were used to open the pores of the skin. The cold water would close the pores. There would be a small pool of cold water or sometimes a large Swimming pool...
("cooling room"), where the remains of the Thermes de Cluny are, and the
Hôtel de Cluny itself, which houses its impressive collections.
The museum
The Musée de Cluny houses a variety of important medieval artifacts, in particular its
tapestryTapestry is a form of textile art, traditionally woven on a vertical loom, however it can also be woven on a floor loom as well. It is composed of two sets of interlaced threads, those running parallel to the length and those parallel to the width ; the warp threads are set up under tension on a...
collection, which includes the fifteenth century tapestry cycle
La Dame à la Licorne (
The Lady and the UnicornThe Lady and the Unicorn is the modern title given to a series of six tapestries woven in Flanders of wool and silk, from designs drawn in Paris in the late fifteenth century, The suite, on display in the Musée du Moyen-Âge, is often considered one of the greatest works of art of the Middle...
).
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-Marie Verlaine was a French poet associated with the Symbolist movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the fin de siècle in international and French poetry.-Early life:...
and RimbaudJean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud was a French poet. Born in Charleville, Ardennes, he produced his best known works while still in his late teens—Victor Hugo described him at the time as "an infant Shakespeare"—and he gave up creative writing altogether before the age of 21. As part of the decadent...
.
External links