Musée des Arts et Métiers
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...
that houses the collection of the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers
Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers
The Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers , or National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts, is a doctoral degree-granting higher education establishment operated by the French government, dedicated to providing education and conducting research for the promotion of science and industry...
(National Conservatory of Arts and Industry), which was founded in 1794 as a repository for the preservation of scientific instruments and inventions.
History
Since its foundation, the museum has been housed in the deserted priory of Saint-Martin-des-Champs, in the rue Réaumur in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris. Today the museum, which underwent major renovation in 1990, includes an additional building adjacent to the abbey, with larger objects remaining in the abbey itself.Collection
The museum has over 80,000 objects and 15,000 drawings in its collection, with 40,000 at the Paris site. Among its collection is an original version of the Foucault pendulumFoucault pendulum
The Foucault pendulum , or Foucault's pendulum, named after the French physicist Léon Foucault, is a simple device conceived as an experiment to demonstrate the rotation of the Earth. While it had long been known that the Earth rotated, the introduction of the Foucault pendulum in 1851 was the...
.
Cultural References
The museum appears in literature as the scene of the climax of the novel Foucault's PendulumFoucault's Pendulum
Foucault's Pendulum is a novel by Italian writer and philosopher Umberto Eco. It was first published in 1988; the translation into English by William Weaver appeared a year later....
by Umberto Eco
Umberto Eco
Umberto Eco Knight Grand Cross is an Italian semiotician, essayist, philosopher, literary critic, and novelist, best known for his novel The Name of the Rose , an intellectual mystery combining semiotics in fiction, biblical analysis, medieval studies and literary theory...
.
Transportation
The museum can be accessed by the Paris MétroParis Métro
The Paris Métro or Métropolitain is the rapid transit metro system in Paris, France. It has become a symbol of the city, noted for its density within the city limits and its uniform architecture influenced by Art Nouveau. The network's sixteen lines are mostly underground and run to 214 km ...
station Arts et Métiers
Arts et Métiers (Paris Metro)
Arts et Métiers is a station of the Paris Métro, serving Line 3 and Line 11. It takes its name from the Musée des Arts et Métiers, which is served by the station. It opened on 19 October 1904 as part of the first section of line 3 opened between Père Lachaise and Villiers...
.
See also
- List of museums in Paris
- Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot'sNicolas-Joseph CugnotNicolas-Joseph Cugnot was a French inventor. He is believed to have built the first self-propelled mechanical vehicle...
fardier (a pioneering steam-powered road vehicle) is an exhibit