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Musée de Cluny
The Musée de Cluny (French pronunciation: [myze də klyni]), officially Musée de Cluny-Musée National du Moyen Âge (lit. 'Cluny Museum-National Museum of the Middle Ages'), is a museum of medieval art in Paris. It is located in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, bordered by square Samuel-Paty to the south, boulevard Saint-Michel to the west, boulevard Saint-Germain to the north, and rue Saint-Jacques to the east.
Its building combines Roman-era thermae, the Thermes de Cluny, including a well-preserved frigidarium, and the 15th-century Hôtel de Cluny, the Parisian mansion of the Abbey of Cluny. The museum houses one of the largest collections of art from the Middle Ages, consisting of 23,000 items, of which about 2,300 are exhibited. The museum's holding including the iconic series of six 15th-century tapestries known as The Lady and the Unicorn.
The Hôtel de Cluny is a rare extant example of the civic architecture of medieval Paris, erected in the late 15th century to replace an earlier structure built by Pierre de Chaslus after the Cluny Abbey acquired the ancient Roman baths in 1340. At that time, the mansion was part of a larger complex that also included a religious college (French: Collège de Cluny, no longer extant) on the location of the present-day place de la Sorbonne.
The Cluny mansion was rebuilt under Jacques d'Amboise, abbot in commendam of Cluny 1485–1510, combining Gothic and some early Renaissance elements. D'Amboise used it while also Bishop of Clermont and Abbot of Jumièges. Later users included Mary Tudor, sister of Henry VIII of England, who resided there in 1515, after the death of her husband Louis XII; James V of Scotland in 1537, on the occasion of his wedding with Madeleine of Valois; and several 17th-century papal nuncios, including Mazarin. In the 18th century, the tower of the Hôtel de Cluny was used as an observatory by astronomers Joseph-Nicolas Delisle, Jérôme Lalande, and Charles Messier who in 1771, published his observations in the Messier catalog. The chapel also housed the printing press of Nicolas-Léger Moutard, official printer of the Queen of France from 1774 to 1792. During the French Revolution in 1789, the mansion was confiscated by the state, and for the next three decades served various purposes, including the use of the former Abbots' chapel as a dissection room.
In December 1832, archeologist and art collector Alexandre Du Sommerard bought the Hôtel de Cluny and used it to display his large collection of medieval and Renaissance objects. Upon his death in 1842, the collection was purchased by the French state. The building was opened as a museum in 1843, with Sommerard's son Edmond Du Sommerard serving as its first director. The buildings were restored by the architect Albert Lenoir, son of preservationist Alexandre Lenoir.
The mansion was granted monument historique status in 1846, and the thermal baths were granted that status in 1862. In February 1926, the museum was brought under the aegis of the Louvre's department of decorative arts (Objets d'Art), from which it was released in 1977. A new museography was created in the late 1940s, with a thematic display of works focusing on different workmanship categories and techniques such as stonework, ironwork, glasswork, etc. A garden opened in 1971, including a 'unicorn's forest" inspired by the museum's iconic tapestries series of the Lady and the Unicorn. In 1977, the museum's Renaissance art collections were transferred to the newly created Musée National de la Renaissance at the Château d'Écouen in the northern outskirts of Paris, freeing additional space for medieval artworks. In 1981, a new room was created to present recently rediscovered statuary from Notre-Dame cathedral. In 1992, the display of the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries was redesigned.
In 2011, the French culture ministry initiated a more comprehensive renovation, dubbed "Cluny 4" in a conscious echo of the latest church of Cluny Abbey known as Cluny III. This included a redesign of the Lady and the Unicorn display in 2013; cleaning-up of the Roman baths and medieval chapel in 2015–2017; the construction of a new building designed by architect Bernard Desmoulin for ancillary facilities in 2016–2018; and a chronologically reorganized display of medieval art collections, including structural alterations such as a new staircase in the building's northeastern corner, conducted from 2019 to 2022. The renovated museum reopened on 12 May 2022, for a total cost of 23.1 million euros partly financed by the proceeds of the Louvre Abu Dhabi contract.
The museum is 11,500 square feet, 6,500 of which are designed for expositions. It contains around 23,000 artifacts dating from the Gallo-Roman period up until the 16th century. There are currently 2,300 artifacts on display. The collections contain pieces from Europe, the Byzantine Empire, and the Islamic world of the Middle Ages.
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Musée de Cluny
The Musée de Cluny (French pronunciation: [myze də klyni]), officially Musée de Cluny-Musée National du Moyen Âge (lit. 'Cluny Museum-National Museum of the Middle Ages'), is a museum of medieval art in Paris. It is located in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, bordered by square Samuel-Paty to the south, boulevard Saint-Michel to the west, boulevard Saint-Germain to the north, and rue Saint-Jacques to the east.
Its building combines Roman-era thermae, the Thermes de Cluny, including a well-preserved frigidarium, and the 15th-century Hôtel de Cluny, the Parisian mansion of the Abbey of Cluny. The museum houses one of the largest collections of art from the Middle Ages, consisting of 23,000 items, of which about 2,300 are exhibited. The museum's holding including the iconic series of six 15th-century tapestries known as The Lady and the Unicorn.
The Hôtel de Cluny is a rare extant example of the civic architecture of medieval Paris, erected in the late 15th century to replace an earlier structure built by Pierre de Chaslus after the Cluny Abbey acquired the ancient Roman baths in 1340. At that time, the mansion was part of a larger complex that also included a religious college (French: Collège de Cluny, no longer extant) on the location of the present-day place de la Sorbonne.
The Cluny mansion was rebuilt under Jacques d'Amboise, abbot in commendam of Cluny 1485–1510, combining Gothic and some early Renaissance elements. D'Amboise used it while also Bishop of Clermont and Abbot of Jumièges. Later users included Mary Tudor, sister of Henry VIII of England, who resided there in 1515, after the death of her husband Louis XII; James V of Scotland in 1537, on the occasion of his wedding with Madeleine of Valois; and several 17th-century papal nuncios, including Mazarin. In the 18th century, the tower of the Hôtel de Cluny was used as an observatory by astronomers Joseph-Nicolas Delisle, Jérôme Lalande, and Charles Messier who in 1771, published his observations in the Messier catalog. The chapel also housed the printing press of Nicolas-Léger Moutard, official printer of the Queen of France from 1774 to 1792. During the French Revolution in 1789, the mansion was confiscated by the state, and for the next three decades served various purposes, including the use of the former Abbots' chapel as a dissection room.
In December 1832, archeologist and art collector Alexandre Du Sommerard bought the Hôtel de Cluny and used it to display his large collection of medieval and Renaissance objects. Upon his death in 1842, the collection was purchased by the French state. The building was opened as a museum in 1843, with Sommerard's son Edmond Du Sommerard serving as its first director. The buildings were restored by the architect Albert Lenoir, son of preservationist Alexandre Lenoir.
The mansion was granted monument historique status in 1846, and the thermal baths were granted that status in 1862. In February 1926, the museum was brought under the aegis of the Louvre's department of decorative arts (Objets d'Art), from which it was released in 1977. A new museography was created in the late 1940s, with a thematic display of works focusing on different workmanship categories and techniques such as stonework, ironwork, glasswork, etc. A garden opened in 1971, including a 'unicorn's forest" inspired by the museum's iconic tapestries series of the Lady and the Unicorn. In 1977, the museum's Renaissance art collections were transferred to the newly created Musée National de la Renaissance at the Château d'Écouen in the northern outskirts of Paris, freeing additional space for medieval artworks. In 1981, a new room was created to present recently rediscovered statuary from Notre-Dame cathedral. In 1992, the display of the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries was redesigned.
In 2011, the French culture ministry initiated a more comprehensive renovation, dubbed "Cluny 4" in a conscious echo of the latest church of Cluny Abbey known as Cluny III. This included a redesign of the Lady and the Unicorn display in 2013; cleaning-up of the Roman baths and medieval chapel in 2015–2017; the construction of a new building designed by architect Bernard Desmoulin for ancillary facilities in 2016–2018; and a chronologically reorganized display of medieval art collections, including structural alterations such as a new staircase in the building's northeastern corner, conducted from 2019 to 2022. The renovated museum reopened on 12 May 2022, for a total cost of 23.1 million euros partly financed by the proceeds of the Louvre Abu Dhabi contract.
The museum is 11,500 square feet, 6,500 of which are designed for expositions. It contains around 23,000 artifacts dating from the Gallo-Roman period up until the 16th century. There are currently 2,300 artifacts on display. The collections contain pieces from Europe, the Byzantine Empire, and the Islamic world of the Middle Ages.