Musée Carnavalet

The Musée Carnavalet in Paris is dedicated to the history of the city. The museum occupies two neighboring mansions: the Hôtel Carnavalet and the former Hôtel Le Peletier de Saint Fargeau. On the advice of Baron Haussmann, the civil servant who transformed Paris in the latter half of the 19th century, the Hôtel Carnavalet was purchased by the Municipal Council of Paris in 1866; it was opened to the public in 1880. By the latter part of the 20th century, the museum was full to capacity. The Hôtel Le Peletier de Saint Fargeau was annexed to the Carnavalet and opened to the public in 1989.[2]

Musée Carnavalet
Location within Paris
EstablishedDecember 1880
Location23, rue de Sévigné,
75003 Paris, France
Coordinates48.8574°N 2.36214°E / 48.8574; 2.36214
TypeHistory Museum, Art museum, Historic site
Collection size580,000 objects
Visitors1,091,105 visitors (2010)[1]
DirectorJean-Marc Léri
Public transit access
WebsiteMusée Carnavalet

Within its magnificent painting collection, we find an extensive selection from the Renaissance to today, ranging from very diverse painters such as Joos Van Cleve, Frans Pourbus the Younger, Jacques-Louis David, Hippolyte Lecomte, François Gérard, Louis-Léopold Boilly, and Étienne Aubry, to Tsuguharu Foujita, Louis Béroud, Jean Béraud, Carolus Duran, Jean-Louis Forain, Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, Johan Barthold Jongkind, Henri Gervex, Alfred Stevens, Paul Signac, and Simon-Auguste. There are landscapes depicting the city's history and development, and portraits of its notable characters.

Carnavalet Museum is one of the 14 City of Paris's Museums that have been incorporated since January 1, 2013 in the public institution Paris Musées. In October 2016, the museum was closed to the public for a major renovation.[3] It reopened on May 29, 2021.[4]

History

The land on which the museum stands was purchased in 1544 by Jacques de Ligneris, the president of the Parliament of Paris, who commissioned the architects Pierre Lescot and Jean Goujon to built a townhouse. In 1548 Lescot and Goujon were taken away from the project to the construct the new Louvre Palace; the building was completed in about 1560 by Jean Bullant, whose other notable works included portions of the Tuileries Palace, the Louvre. the Château d'Écouen, and the famous gallery of the Chateau de Chenonceau spanning the River Cher in the Loire Valley.[5][6]

In 1572, the hôtel was purchased by Madame de Kernevenoy, the widow of a member of the Court of Henry II of France, and the preceptor of the Duke of Anjou, who became Henry III of France. Her Breton name was difficult for the Parisians to pronounce, and gradually was transformed to "Carnavalet".[7] During this period, the facade and portals were given lavish decoration of Renaissance sculpture, much of which still can be seen. They were the work of the sculptor Jean Goujon and his workshop.[8]

The mansion was bought in 1654 by the intendant Claude Boislève, who commissioned the architect François Mansart to make extensive renovations in the new classical style. This included raising the height of the facade on the street and on the two wings by one storey, as well as the addition of groups of classical sculpture on the main facade and on the two wings. Boislève had the misfortune of being too closely associated with Fouquet, the royal chancellor who was accused of misusing using royal funds to build his own palatial residence. The hôtel and furnishings were confiscated from Boisléve in 1662 and sold at auction. [9] The new buyer rented the hotel in 1677 to Madame de Sévigné, famous for her letters describing the daily life and intrigues of the Parisian nobility. She lived in the Hôtel Carnavalet from 1677 until her death in 1696.[10]

A large collection of Paris historical objects was gathered by Baron Haussmann in the process of rebuilding the center of Paris. In 1866 he persuaded the city of Paris to purchase the Hotel Carnavalet to house the Paris history museum. In the meanwhile, the collection was stored, with the city archives, in the vaults of the Hotel de Ville. It was destroyed in 1871 when the Paris Commune set fire to the Hotel de Ville.[11] The collection was gradually rebuilt, and in 1880 the building formally became the museum of the history of Paris, [12]

Many more additions followed, as the collection grew. In 1872, the building was enlarged on three sides, largely using vestiges of buildings demolished during Hausmann's construction of the Grand Boulevards in the center of the city. At the beginning of the 20th century, two new wings were added in the rear, which enclosed the garden. An even larger expansion program was begun in 1913 by he architect Roger Foucault. The project was interrupted by the First World War, but resumed after the war and was finally completed in 1921, doubling the exposition space in the museum. The new buildings finally enclosed the Cour Henri IV and the courtyard called "de la Victore".[13]

Expansion continued. An additional adjoining building was attached to the museum in 1989. The Hôtel Le Peletier de Saint Fargeau was also built in the middle of the 16th century and was originally known as the Hôtel d'Orgeval. It was purchased by Michel Le Peletier and passed on eventually to his grandson, Le Peletier de Saint Fargeau, who was a representative of the nobility in the Estates-General of 1789. In 1793, Le Peletier voted for the execution of Louis XVI, and was murdered, in revenge for his vote, the same day as the execution of the king, on January 20, 1793.[14] The Hôtel Le Peletier de Saint Fargeau was annexed to the Carnavalet and opened to the public in 1989, commemorating the bicentennial of the French Revolution.[15]

The museum was closed in 2017 for a major renovation, and reopened in 2021. The museum as of 2021 had forty decorated rooms and galleries, and 3800 objects on display.[16]

Exterior
  • The original Renaissance portal of the building on Rue de Sévigné, preserved in the later structure (16th c.)
  • Detail of the portal sculpture on Rue de Sévigné
  • Detail of portal sculpture on Rue de Sévigné
  • The Courtyard of Louis XIV
  • The Cour de Drapiers, with gardens
  • Courtyard of Henry IV
  • Facade facing the Courtyard of Drapers, formerly the offices of the Guild of Drapers, or cloth-workers
  • Detail of the facade facing the Cour de Drapers,

Sculpture

The statue of Louis XIV is one of the very few images of him which survived the French Revolution. It was made by sculptor Antoine Coysevox and depicts the King in the costume of a Roman Emperor. Before the French Revolution it was placed before the Hotel de Ville.

The facade features a statue of "Immortality" by Louis-Simon Boizot. During the Revolution, Boizot was a member of the Commission des Monuments in 1792. From 1805 he was a professor at the Academie des Beaux-Arts, where, among other works, he executed the sculpture for the Fontaine du Palmier erected in the Place du Châtelet, Paris. The gilded "Victory" was the centrepiece of the fountain, and celebrated Napoleon's triumphant return from Egypt. It was finished in 1806, and placed atop a column with sphinxes spouting water at the base. The statue on display at the Carnavalet is the original model of "Immortality", holding olive wreaths in both hands.

Interiors and Collections

In the courtyard, a sculpture of Louis XIV, the Sun King, in the costume of a Roman Emperor, greets the visitor.[17] Inside the museum, the exhibits show the transformation of the village of Lutèce, which was inhabited by the Parisii tribes,[18] to the grand city of today with a population of 2,201,578.[19]

The Carnavalet houses the following: about 2,600 paintings, 20,000 drawings, 300,000 engravings and 150,000 photographs, 2,000 modern sculptures and 800 pieces of furniture, thousands of ceramics, many decorations, models and reliefs, signs, thousands of coins, countless items, many of them souvenirs of famous characters, and thousands of archeological fragments. ... The period called Modern Time, which spans from the Renaissance until today, is known essentially by the vast amount of images of the city. ... There are many views of the streets and monuments of Paris from the sixteenth to the twentieth century, but there are also many portraits of characters who played a role in the history of the capital and works showing events which took place in Paris, especially the many revolutions which stirred the capital, as well as many scenes of the daily life in all the social classes.[20]

Lutetia - the Gallo-Roman city
  • Neolithic pirogue, or canoe made from a single tree (about 2700 BC)
  • Gold coin of the Parisii (between 50 and 100 BC)
  • A bronze key from Gallo-Roman Lutetia

On its lower level, the museum displays has an extensive collection of art and practical objects recovered from the ancient Gallo-Roman of Lutetia.

Among te oldest objects on the collection is the a fragment of a neolithic pirogue, or long, narrow canoe, made from a single tree trunk. It dates to about 2700 BC, in the Neolithic period. It was discovered in the early 1990s, along with several other pirogues that were even older. Earthenware cooking pots that were found at the same site are also on display. They date back long before the first written description of the village in A.D. 52 in Julius Caesar's De bello Gallico[21][22][23]

  • A cruciform Roman fibula, or buckle
  • Cast and chiseled bronze statue of Mercury (2nd century AD), found in Luxembourg Garden in 1867
  • Remains of a Gallo-Roman mural (2nd century)
  • Head of statue with an oak crown found near the amphitheater of Lutece, probably representing a member of the royal family or a god (2nd century AD)

Other objects displayed include a sword from the Bronze Age (2000-800 B.C.); fourth-century bottle used for perfume, wine, or honey,[24] and a set of instruments belonging to surgeon, dating to the Third Century A.D.[25]

Early coins minted by the Parisii are also displayed, dating to between 90 and 60 BC, with a masculine head in profile, and a horse on the reverse. The coins were used in the extensive river commerce of the Parisii on European rivers. Following the Roman conquest of Gaul by Julius Caesar in 52 BC, the minting of the coins as stopped.[26]

A group of sculpted heads are on display, which were discovered near the state of the Roman amphitheater in Paris in 1885. The statues had oak crowns, and represented either gods or the Imperial family.[27]

Medieval and Renaissance Paris (5th to the 16th c. )

Objects in the galleries include:

Royal Paris - the 17th-18th century
  • The Salon Demarteau by Francois Boucher (1765)
  • The stairway de Luynes (18th c.)
  • Detail of the stairway de Luynes, with life-size painted figures (18th century)

The Salon Demarteau is a masterpiece of 18th century painting and design. It recreates a fantasy of an idyllic country scene, painted by Francois Boucher in 1765, with the assistance of two other prominent 18th century painters, Jean-Honore Fragonard and the animal painter Jean-Baptiste Huet. It was originally made for the residence of the engraver Gilles Demarteau. After his death the decor was moved to several other Paris residences, before being purchased by Musée Carnavalet.[31]

  • Rooms from the Hôtel de Breteuil, in the Louis XVI style (18th c.)
  • Troubador Clock (18th c.)
  • The Salon d'Uzès (1767)

The museum displays two 18th-century rooms from the Hôtel de Breteuil, a large mansion on Rue Matignon, which was the residence of the Vicomte de Breteuil and his wife. It illustrates the height of the Louis XVI style, just before the French Revolution. The new style was characterised by symmetry, straight lines, and ornaments adapted from antiquity, such as acanthus leaves and egg-shaped designs.[32]

The Salon d'Uzès (1767) was main room for entertaining company in the Hôtel d'Uzès, a mansion on rue Montmartre. It was designed by the architect Claude-Nicolas Ledoux, who planned the elaborate neoclassical woodwork made by Joseph Métivier and Jean-Baptiste Boiston. The woodwork is full of Greco-Roman symbols, including the sceptre, and the lyre. Each of the four doors has a sculpted decoration of an animal representing a continent; an alligator for America, a camel for Africa, an elephant for Asia and a horse for Europe.[33]

  • The armchair of Voltaire, where he spent his last hours
  • The Pont Royal and the Louvre, by Alexandre Jean Noël (c. 1780)

THe Salon of Philosophers displays the armchair of the philosopher Voltaire, where he spent his last hours before his death in February 1778. It was ordered for him by the Marquis de Vilette, in whose residence on the Quai de Conti Voltaire spent his last days. It was made of oak carved and gilded, with cushions of velour, and movable wooden and iron shelves for his books and papers, and it could be rolled from room to room.[34]


Other works on display from this period include a painting depicting the celebration of the marriage of Louis XIII with Anne of Austria, on the place Royale (now the Place des Vosges) which lasted from 507 April, 1612.[35]

The cabinet of the Hôtel Colbert-de-Villacerf, preserved after that building was demolished, depicts the lavish style of the 17th century. It displays a portrait of Cardinal Mazarin from about 1665. The walls are decorated with grotesque polychrome paintings and gilding.

The French Revolution
  • A model of the Bastille
  • La Fête de la Fédération, le 14 juillet 1790, au Champs de Mars, Charles Thévenin (1764–1838)

The section of the museum on the French Revolution includes a reconstitution of the cell that was occupied by Marie-Antoinette at the Temple prison, before he was transferred to the Conciergerie for her trial on October 14, 1793. She was sentenced to death two days later, and taken directly the guillotine on the Place de la Concorde.

Other displays include:

  • An uncompleted painting by Jacques-Louis David, The Tennis Court Oath (1789), portrays a pivotal event in French history when members of the National Assembly swore an emotional oath that they would not disband until they had passed a "solid and equitable Constitution."[37] This event is often regarded as the beginning of the French Revolution.
  • Paintings show the people's revenge on the Bastille, a dungeon that had become "a symbol of the arbitrariness of royal power."[38]
  • Paintings or sculptures of the major figures of the Revolution, including Mirabeau, Danton, Robespierre, and the royal family[39]
  • A painting of an execution by guillotine at the Place de la Révolution, by Pierre-Antoine Demauchy: the fate that struck King Louis XVI, Queen Marie Antoinette, the Royalists, the Girondins, the Hébertists, the Dantonists, Robespierre and his followers, and many others[40]
  • A paper on which Robespierre had partially written his signature when he was seized by soldiers of the National Convention.[41]

Napoleon to the Art Nouveau (19th century)

Shop Signs
  • 19th c. shop sign
  • Gallery of shop signs
  • Sign of Le Chat Noir, a popular 19th century cabaret
  • Shop sign for the boutique La Maison Henry, on rue de Faubourg Saint-Honoré (c. 1900)

Two unusual galleries in the museum display the distinctive signs that that hung in front of Paris shops in the 18th and 19th century, illustrating the profession or the product of the shopkeeper. These range from the signs of wigmakers, locksmiths and the makers of eyeglasses, illustrating their products, to the black cat of the "Le Chat Noir" cabaret in Montmartre in 1881, a popular meeting place for artists, and a model of the Bastille for an early 19th-century cafe of that name in the 11th arrondissement.[50]

Paris in the twentieth century

The section on the 20th century features the colourful Art Deco ballroom of the Hotel de Wendel, on Avenue New York, made in 1924 by the Catalan artist José Maria Sert for its owner Maurice de Wendel, and his wife Misia, for their surrealist balls. Wendel explained: "After considerable hesitation, we ordered the decor, but only the general tonality was specified. For the rest, we had a vague idea that it should show the Queen of Sheba in a chariot being drawn by gazelles." The surrealist paintings extend above the walls onto the ceiling.[51]

  • A reconstruction, with original furniture, of the room where Marcel Proust wrote In search of lost time[52]
  • Photographs of 20th-century Paris by Eugène Atget and Henri Cartier-Bresson[53]
  • A stylized painting of a crowded bistro of the mid-1900s, by the naturalized Japanese artist, Leonard Foujita[54]
  • A photograph in daguerreotype, The Forum of the Halles, taken by two American photographers in 1989 for an exhibit at the Carnavalet celebrating the 150th anniversary of the invention of photography[55]

See also

References
  1. "Palmarès 2011 des musées ", Le Journal des Arts, n°350, 24 juin 2011, p.23
  2. Leri, Jean-Marc,Musée Carnavalet: Histoire de Paris, pages 7-8.
  3. "Carnavalet activités". Le musée d'histoire de Paris rouvrira au public au printemps 2021
  4. "MUSÉE CARNAVALET REOPENS, DISCOVER OUR PICTURES". sortirparis.com. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  5. Hillairet, "Connaissance du Vieux Paris" (2017), p. 38-39
  6. Leri, Jean-Marc,Musée Carnavalet: Histoire de Paris, pages 7-9.
  7. Leri, Jean-Marc,Musée Carnavalet: Histoire de Paris, pages 7-9.
  8. Hillairet, "Connaissance du Vieux Paris" (2017), p. 38-39
  9. Hillairet, "Connaissance du Vieux Paris" (2017), p. 38-39
  10. Leri, Jean-Marc,Musée Carnavalet: Histoire de Paris, pages 7-9.
  11. Pommereau, Claude, Musée Carnavalet: Histoire de Paris (May 2021), p. 4
  12. Hillairet, "Connaissance du Vieux Paris" (2017), p. 38-39
  13. Pommereau, Claude, Musée Carnavalet: Histoire de Paris (May 2021), p. 6
  14. Leri, Jean-Marc,Musée Carnavalet: Histoire de Paris, pages 10-11.
  15. Pommereau, Claude, Musée Carnavalet: Histoire de Paris (May 2021), p. 6
  16. Pommereau, Claude, Musée Carnavalet: Histoire de Paris (May 2021), p. 6
  17. Leri, Jean-Marc,Musée Carnavalet: Histore de Paris, page 41.
  18. Colson, Jean, Paris: Des origines à nos jours, page 11.
  19. "La population par arrondissement de 1990 à 2009". Paris.fr: (Mairie de Paris). Archived from the original on 2008-12-27. Retrieved 2009-02-13.
  20. Leri, Musée Carnavalet: Histoire de Paris, pages 11-12.
  21. Colson, Jean, Paris: des origines à nos jours, page 10.
  22. Leri, Musée Carnavalet: Histoire de Paris, page 14.
  23. Pommereau, Claude, Musée Carnavalet: Histoire de Paris (May 2021), p. 19
  24. Leri, Jean-Marc, Musée Carnavalet: Histore de Paris"", page 19.
  25. Pommereau, Claude, Musée Carnavalet: Histoire de Paris (May 2021), p. 19
  26. Pommereau, Claude, Musée Carnavalet: Histoire de Paris (May 2021), p. 19
  27. Pommereau, Claude, Musée Carnavalet: Histoire de Paris (May 2021), p. 19
  28. Leri, Musée Carnavalet: Histore de Paris"", page 20.
  29. Colson, Jean Paris: des origines à nos jours, pages 25-27.
  30. Leri, Jean-Marc, Musée Carnavalet: Histoire de Paris, pages 21-23.
  31. Pommereau, Claude, Musée Carnavalet: Histoire de Paris (May 2021), p. 41
  32. Pommereau, Claude, Musée Carnavalet: Histoire de Paris (May 2021), p. 42
  33. Pommereau, Claude, Musée Carnavalet: Histoire de Paris (May 2021), p. 45
  34. Pommereau, Claude, Musée Carnavalet: Histoire de Paris (May 2021), p. 47
  35. Pommereau, Claude, Musée Carnavalet: Histoire de Paris (May 2021), p. 29
  36. Leri, Jean-Marc, Musée Carnavalet: Histoire de Paris, page 47.
  37. Schama, Simon Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution, page. 359.
  38. Leri, Jean-Marc, Musée Carnavalet: Histoire de Paris, page 97.
  39. Leri, Jean-Marc Musée Carnavalet: Histoire de Paris, pages 98-102.
  40. Leri, Jean-Marc, Musée Carnavalet: Histoire de Paris, page 47.
  41. Interview with museum guard, 2005-01-02.
  42. Leri, Jean-Marc, Musée Carnavalet: Histoire de Paris, page 110.
  43. Leri, Jean-Marc, Musée Carnavalet: Histoire de Paris, pages 140-141; 126-127; 137; 139.
  44. Leri, Jean-Marc, Musée Carnavalet: Histoire de Paris, page 123.
  45. Leri, Jean-Marc, Musée Carnavalet: Histoire de Paris, pages 13-131.
  46. Leri, Jean-Marc, Musée Carnavalet: Histoire de Paris, page 147.
  47. Jean-Marc, Musée Carnavalet: Histoire de Paris, page 159.
  48. Leri, Jean-Marc, Musée Carnavalet: Histoire de Paris, pages 140-141; 148-157; 159-163.
  49. Leri, Jean-Marc Musée Carnavalet: Histoire de Paris, page 168.
  50. Pommereau, Claude, Musée Carnavalet: Histoire de Paris (May 2021), pp. 24-25
  51. Pommereau, Claude, Musée Carnavalet: Histoire de Paris (May 2021), pp. 78-79
  52. Leri, Jean-Marc,Musée Carnavalet: Histoire de Paris, page 172.
  53. Leri, Jean-Marc, Musée Carnavalet: Histoire de Paris, page 178-179; 186; 188-189,
  54. Leri, Jean-Marc,Musée Carnavalet: Histoire de Paris, page 187.
  55. Leri, Jean-Marc, Musée Carnavalet: Histoire de Paris, page 190.
  56. "Jean-François Robinet (1825-1899)". Bibliotèque nationale de France. Retrieved 27 March 2017.

Bibliography
  • Pommereau, Claude, Musée Carnavalet: Histoire de Paris (May 2021), Beaux Arts Éditions, Paris (in French) (ISBN=979-1-02040-619-9)
  • Colson, Jean. Paris: Des Origines à Nos jours. Paris: Éditions Hervas, 1998.
  • Hillairet, Jacques, Connaissance du Vieux Paris, (2017), Éditions Payot et Rivages, Paris (in French), (ISBN=978-2-22891-911-1)
  • Leri, Jean-Marc. Musée Carnavalet: Histoire de Paris. Paris:Éditions Fragments International, 2007.
  • Schama, Simon. Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1989.
  • "Taking in Paris Any Day, Any Century". New York Times. January 9, 2013.
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