Musée Grévin
Encyclopedia
Paris
Paris 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...
located on the Grands Boulevards in the IXe arrondissement
IXe arrondissement
The 9th arrondissement , located on the Right Bank, is one of the 20 arrondissements of Paris, France. It contains many places of cultural, historical, and architectural interest, including the Palais Garnier, home to the Paris Opera, Boulevard Haussmann and its large department stores of Galeries...
on the right bank of the Seine
Seine
The Seine is a -long river and an important commercial waterway within the Paris Basin in the north of France. It rises at Saint-Seine near Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plateau, flowing through Paris and into the English Channel at Le Havre . It is navigable by ocean-going vessels...
, at 10, Boulevard Montmartre
Boulevard Montmartre
Thee Boulevard Montmartre is one of the four grands boulevards of Paris. It was constructed in 1763. Contrary to what its name may suggest, the road is not situated on the hills of Montmartre...
, Paris
Paris
Paris 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...
, France
France
The 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 open daily; an admission fee is charged.
The museum was founded in 1882 by Arthur Meyer
Arthur Meyer
Arthur Meyer may refer to:* Arthur Meyer , French journalist.* Arthur Meyer , German botanist....
, a journalist for Le Gaulois
Le Gaulois
Le Gaulois was a French daily newspaper, founded in 1868 by Edmond Tarbe and Henri de Pene. After a printing stoppage, it was revived by Arthur Meyer in 1882 with notable collaborators Paul Bourget, Alfred Grévin, Abel Hermant, and Ernest Daudet...
, and named for its first artistic director, caricaturist Alfred Grévin
Alfred Grévin
Alfred Grévin was a 19th century caricaturist, best known during his lifetime for his caricature silhouettes of contemporary Parisian women...
. It is one of the oldest wax museums in Europe. Its baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
architecture includes a mirrored mirage room based on the principle of a catoptric cistula
Catoptric cistula
A catoptric cistula, also called a catoptric theatre or chest, is a box with several sides lined with mirrors, so as to magnify or multiply images of any object placed inside the box...
and a theater for magic shows.
The Musée Grévin now contains some 450 characters arranged in scenes from the history of France
France
The 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...
and modern life, including a panorama of French history from Charlemagne
Charlemagne
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
to Napoleon III, bloody scenes of the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
, movie stars, and international figures such as Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
, Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi , pronounced . 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement...
, and Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
. The tableau of Charlotte Corday
Charlotte Corday
Marie-Anne Charlotte de Corday d'Armont , known to history as Charlotte Corday, was a figure of the French Revolution. In 1793, she was executed under the guillotine for the assassination of Jacobin leader Jean-Paul Marat, who was in part responsible, through his role as a politician and...
murdering Jean-Paul Marat
Jean-Paul Marat
Jean-Paul Marat , born in the Principality of Neuchâtel, was a physician, political theorist, and scientist best known for his career in France as a radical journalist and politician during the French Revolution...
includes the actual knife and bathtub used.
Louis Aragon
Louis Aragon
Louis Aragon , was a French poet, novelist and editor, a long-time member of the Communist Party and a member of the Académie Goncourt.- Early life :...
wrote poems under the name of Le Musée Grévin (using the pseudonym of François la Colère), published during the Vichy regime by the Éditions de Minuit underground editor.
The first animated
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
film was shown here from 1894
1894 in film
-Events:* January 7 - William Kennedy Dickson receives a patent for motion picture film.* January 7 - Thomas Edison films his assistant, Fred Ott sneezing with the Kinetoscope at the "Black Maria."...
onwards by Charles-Émile Reynaud
Charles-Émile Reynaud
Charles-Émile Reynaud was a French science teacher, responsible for the first projected animated cartoon films....
.
See also
- List of museums in Paris
- Musée Grévin - Forum des HallesMusée Grévin - Forum des HallesThe Musée Grévin - Forum des Halles is a wax museum located in the Forum des Halles, level 1, in the Ier arrondissement at 1 Rue Pierre Lescot, Paris, France. It is open daily; an admission fee is charged....
, an annex of the museum