2024-04-23
All fans of medieval art can finally look forward to the opening of the Musée National du Moyen Âge - Thermes et hôtel de Cluny in Paris. After 7 years of work, visitors will once again be able to see amazing works of gold smithery, painting, beautiful stained-glass and tapestries. Among the greatest gems of the collection is the tapestry cycle "Lady with a Unicorn" (from around 1500).
The collection began as a collection owned by Alexandre Du Sommerard (1779-1842), a great enthusiast of medieval art. He amassed a huge collection, which was later bought by the French state. In 1843, the Hôtel de Cluny and nearly 1,500 historical objects passed into state hands. The first curator of the collection was Alexandre du Sommerard's son, Edmond.
The Hôtel de Cluny is partly built on Roman thermal baths dating from the 1st to the 3rd century, and between 1485 and 1510 the residence was extended in a style combining Gothic and Renaissance. In the 18th century, the tower of the Hôtel de Cluny was used as an astronomical observatory by the astronomer Charles Messier. In 1789, in the early years of the French Revolution, the hotel was confiscated by the state and served various functions for the next three decades. The property was purchased in 1832 by Alexandre Du Sommerard.
The large modernization project was divided into four parts: the conservation of the chapel and the Gallo-Roman baths, creation of a new reception area, redesign of the exhibition routes and the last (still in progress) renovation of the medieval garden. An important part of the project was to make the building friendly to people with disabilities. The newly added façade, covered with aluminium panels in gold/bronze, is also impressive. The gradual seven-year reconstruction of the museum cost around 26 million euros. The museum hopes for a similar number of visitors as before the pandemic, when the institution was visited by around 300,000 people a year.