Musée des beaux-arts de Lyon
Encyclopedia
The Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon ( Musée des beaux-arts de Lyon) is a municipal museum
of fine arts in the French city of Lyon
. It is housed near place des Terreaux
in a former Benedictine convent of the 17th and 18th centuries. It was restored between 1988 and 1998, and despite these important restoration works it remained open to visitors. Its collections range from ancient Egypt antiquities to the Modern art period and make the museum one of the most important in Europe. It hosts important exhibitions of art : recently there have been exhibitions of works by Georges Braque
and Henri Laurens
(second half of 2005), then one on the work of Théodore Géricault
(April to July 2006).
in the 17th and 18th centuries. The present state of the palais Saint-Pierre is largely down to these renovations, which included the construction of the baroque refectory and monumental honour-staircase, said to be by Thomas Blanchet. The refectory has been renovated since then and now serves as the reception for group visits, as well as housing two monumental paintings on the subject of dining, The Multiplication of the Loaves and The Last Supper, both by Pierre-Louis Cretey
. The rest of its current scheme was designed by Nicolas Bidaut and Simon Guillaume and is made up of sculptures.
, though the abbey's other church (the église Saint-Pierre) still exists and now houses 19th and 20th century sculptures. After the Revolution the remaining buildings housed the Palais du Commerce et des Arts, at first made up of works confiscated from the clergy and nobility but later becoming more multi-disciplinary. For example, it gained archaeology and natural history collections and those of the Académie des Sciences et des Lettres. The imperial drawing school was created in 1805 in the Palais du Commerce et des Arts to provide Lyon's silk factories with designers. It gave birth to the famous Lyon School
. In 1860, the Chambre de Commerce left the Palais Saint-Pierre and the establishment became the Palais des Arts. From 1875, the museum's collections underwent a major expansion and had to be expanded - the staircase by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes
dates to this era.
The main part of the collection is displayed in two divided sections : at the ground floor for Medieval and Renaissance sculptures and in the old baroque refectory, which has been renovated, for 19th century and early 20th century sculptures.
is the main theme of the museum's antiquities department, due to the historic importance of egyptology
in Lyon, animated by men like Victor Loret
, whose family gave over 1000 objects to the museum in 1954. From 1895, the musée du Louvre provided nearly 400 objects (unguent vases, funerary figurines etc.) to form the foundation of the department; other objects (canopic vases, jewellery, material from Antinopolis
) were later added to complement this initial donation, and were augmented in 1936 by objects from the artisans' village of Deir el-Medina.
The highlights of the collection are its display of sarcophaguses and the gates of Ptolemy III and Ptolemy IV from the temple of Medamud
dug by the Lyons archaeologist Alexandre Varille
in 1939. The rest of the objects throw light on everyday life in ancient Egypt.
The collection has 600 works displayed in 9 rooms, in a thematic and chronological sequence:
ian, Assyria
n and Babylonian civilisations, as well as Luristan bronzes, ceramics and statuettes from Cyprus
and a fine collection of Syria
n objects (including an anthropoid sarcophagus and a marble bas-relief).
from the Acropolis of Athens
. A second room is dedicated to ancient Greece
, containing a series of Attic vases
in black-figure
or red-figure
, bronzes and terracotta Tanagra figurines. Finally, a small room is devoted to Magna Graecia
, with many ceramics and bronze helmets.
Roman sculpture is also presented across several rooms - marble statues (a torso of Venus, a child on a cockerel, statues of draped figures etc.) and also small bronze figurines of divinities (Mercury, Venus, Mars etc.) and everyday objects.
, Parmigianino
, Fra Bartolomeo, Leonetto Cappiello
, Nicolas Poussin
, François Boucher
, Ingres
, Théodore Géricault
, Eugène Delacroix
, Camille Corot, Honoré Daumier
, Odilon Redon
, Puvis de Chavannes
, Edgar Degas
, Henri Matisse
, Fernand Léger
and a remarkable study by Albrecht Dürer
.
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
of fine arts in the French city of Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
. It is housed near place des Terreaux
Place des Terreaux
The Place des Terreaux is a square located in the centre of Lyon, France on the Presqu'île between the Rhône and the Saône, at the foot of the hill of La Croix-Rousse in the 1st arrondissement of Lyon...
in a former Benedictine convent of the 17th and 18th centuries. It was restored between 1988 and 1998, and despite these important restoration works it remained open to visitors. Its collections range from ancient Egypt antiquities to the Modern art period and make the museum one of the most important in Europe. It hosts important exhibitions of art : recently there have been exhibitions of works by Georges Braque
Georges Braque
Georges Braque[p] was a major 20th century French painter and sculptor who, along with Pablo Picasso, developed the art style known as Cubism.-Early Life:...
and Henri Laurens
Henri Laurens
Henri Laurens was a French sculptor and illustrator.-Early life and education:Born in Paris, Henri Laurens worked as a stonemason before he became a sculptor...
(second half of 2005), then one on the work of Théodore Géricault
Théodore Géricault
Jean-Louis André Théodore Géricault was a profoundly influential French artist, painter and lithographer, known for The Raft of the Medusa and other paintings...
(April to July 2006).
Abbey
Until 1792, the buildings belonged to the royal abbaye des Dames de Saint-Pierre, built in the 17th century. The abbess always came from the high French nobility and here received the personalities of the kingdom. The institution had a particularly aristocratic slant, as is shown by its renovation by Louis XIV of FranceLouis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
in the 17th and 18th centuries. The present state of the palais Saint-Pierre is largely down to these renovations, which included the construction of the baroque refectory and monumental honour-staircase, said to be by Thomas Blanchet. The refectory has been renovated since then and now serves as the reception for group visits, as well as housing two monumental paintings on the subject of dining, The Multiplication of the Loaves and The Last Supper, both by Pierre-Louis Cretey
Pierre-Louis Cretey
Louis Cretey, formerly known as Pierre-Louis Cretey , was a French baroque painter.-Life:Records place Cretey in Rome from 1661 to 1679, then Modena in 1679 - another place he probably worked was Parma...
. The rest of its current scheme was designed by Nicolas Bidaut and Simon Guillaume and is made up of sculptures.
The Palais du commerce et des Arts
The expulsion of the nuns and the destruction of the église Saint-Saturnin dates to the French RevolutionFrench 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...
, though the abbey's other church (the église Saint-Pierre) still exists and now houses 19th and 20th century sculptures. After the Revolution the remaining buildings housed the Palais du Commerce et des Arts, at first made up of works confiscated from the clergy and nobility but later becoming more multi-disciplinary. For example, it gained archaeology and natural history collections and those of the Académie des Sciences et des Lettres. The imperial drawing school was created in 1805 in the Palais du Commerce et des Arts to provide Lyon's silk factories with designers. It gave birth to the famous Lyon School
Lyon School
The Lyon School is a term for a group of French artists which gathered around Paul Chenavard. It was founded by Pierre Revoil, one of the representatives of the Troubadour style. It included Victor Orsel, Louis Janmot and Hippolyte Flandrin, and was nicknamed "the prison of painting" by Charles...
. In 1860, the Chambre de Commerce left the Palais Saint-Pierre and the establishment became the Palais des Arts. From 1875, the museum's collections underwent a major expansion and had to be expanded - the staircase by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes
Pierre Puvis de Chavannes
Pierre Puvis de Chavannes was a French painter, who became the president and co-founder of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts and whose work influenced many other artists.-Life:...
dates to this era.
The Musée des Beaux-Arts
The start of the 20th century was marked by a considerable opening-up of the collections, leading to the Palais des Arts becoming the Musée des Beaux-Arts. After several restoration projects, it was in the mid 1990s that the building acquired its present scheme.Paintings
The paintings department has European paintings of 14th to mid 20th century paintings. They are arranged chronologically and by major schools in 35 rooms. The collection features :- Ancient French painting (16th to 18th century) (Nicolas PoussinNicolas PoussinNicolas Poussin was a French painter in the classical style. His work predominantly features clarity, logic, and order, and favors line over color. His work serves as an alternative to the dominant Baroque style of the 17th century...
, Simon VouetSimon VouetSimon Vouet was a French painter and draftsman, who today is perhaps best remembered for helping to introduce the Italian Baroque style of painting to France.-Life:...
, Philippe de ChampaignePhilippe de ChampaignePhilippe de Champaigne was a Flemish-born French Baroque era painter, a major exponent of the French school.-Early life:Born in Brussels of a poor family, Champaigne was a pupil of the landscape painter Jacques Fouquières...
, Eustache Lesueur, Charles Le BrunCharles Le BrunCharles Le Brun , a French painter and art theorist, became the all-powerful, peerless master of 17th-century French art.-Biography:-Early life and training:...
, Hyacinthe RigaudHyacinthe RigaudHyacinthe Rigaud was a French baroque painter of Catalan origin whose career was based in Paris.He is renowned for his portrait paintings of Louis XIV, the royalty and nobility of Europe, and members of their courts and considered one of the most notable French portraitists of the classical period...
, François BoucherFrançois BoucherFrançois Boucher was a French painter, a proponent of Rococo taste, known for his idyllic and voluptuous paintings on classical themes, decorative allegories representing the arts or pastoral occupations, intended as a sort of two-dimensional furniture...
, Jean-Baptiste GreuzeJean-Baptiste GreuzeJean-Baptiste Greuze was a French painter.-Early life:He was born at Tournus, Saône-et-Loire. He is generally said to have formed his own talent; this is, however, true only in the most limited sense, for at an early age his inclinations, though thwarted by his father, were encouraged by a...
, Claude Joseph Vernet etc.). - 19th century French painting (IngresIngresIngres Database is a commercially supported, open-source SQL relational database management system intended to support large commercial and government applications...
, Géricault, DelacroixEugène DelacroixFerdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic school...
, DegasEdgar DegasEdgar Degas[p] , born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, was a French artist famous for his work in painting, sculpture, printmaking and drawing. He is regarded as one of the founders of Impressionism although he rejected the term, and preferred to be called a realist...
, RenoirRenoir-People with the surname Renoir :* Pierre-Auguste Renoir , French painter* Pierre Renoir , French actor and son of Pierre-Auguste Renoir* Jean Renoir , French film director and son of Pierre-Auguste Renoir...
, ManetÉdouard ManetÉdouard Manet was a French painter. One of the first 19th-century artists to approach modern-life subjects, he was a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism....
, Morisot, Cézanne, GauguinPaul GauguinEugène Henri Paul Gauguin was a leading French Post-Impressionist artist. He was an important figure in the Symbolist movement as a painter, sculptor, print-maker, ceramist, and writer...
, Van Gogh etc.) ; - 14th to 18th century Italian painting (Perugino, Lorenzo CostaLorenzo CostaLorenzo Costa was an Italian painter of the Renaissance.-Biography:He was born at Ferrara, but moved to Bologna by the his early twenties, and would be more influential to the Bolognese school of painting. However, many artists worked in both nearby cities, and thus others consider him a product...
, VeronesePaolo VeronesePaolo Veronese was an Italian painter of the Renaissance in Venice, famous for paintings such as The Wedding at Cana and The Feast in the House of Levi...
, TintorettoTintorettoTintoretto , real name Jacopo Comin, was a Venetian painter and a notable exponent of the Renaissance school. For his phenomenal energy in painting he was termed Il Furioso...
, Correggio, Guido ReniGuido ReniGuido Reni was an Italian painter of high-Baroque style.-Biography:Born in Bologna into a family of musicians, Guido Reni was the son of Daniele Reni and Ginevra de’ Pozzi. As a child of nine, he was apprenticed under the Bolognese studio of Denis Calvaert. Soon after, he was joined in that...
, Domenichino, Pietro da CortonaPietro da CortonaPietro da Cortona, by the name of Pietro Berrettini, born Pietro Berrettini da Cortona, was the leading Italian Baroque painter of his time and also one of the key architects in the emergence of Roman Baroque architecture. He was also an important decorator...
, Guercino, Salvator RosaSalvator RosaSalvator Rosa was an Italian Baroque painter, poet and printmaker, active in Naples, Rome and Florence. As a painter, he is best known as an "unorthodox and extravagant" and a "perpetual rebel" proto-Romantic.-Early life:...
, Luca GiordanoLuca GiordanoLuca Giordano was an Italian late Baroque painter and printmaker in etching. Fluent and decorative, he worked successfully in Naples and Rome, Florence and Venice, before spending a decade in Spain....
, CanalettoCanalettoGiovanni Antonio Canal better known as Canaletto , was a Venetian painter famous for his landscapes, or vedute, of Venice. He was also an important printmaker in etching.- Early career :...
, Francesco GuardiFrancesco GuardiFrancesco Lazzaro Guardi was a Venetian painter of veduta, a member of the Venetian School. He is considered to be among the last practitioners, along with his brothers, of the classic Venetian school of painting....
, Giandomenico Tiepolo etc.) ; - Ancient Spanish painting (mainly 17th century) (El GrecoEl GrecoEl Greco was a painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance. "El Greco" was a nickname, a reference to his ethnic Greek origin, and the artist normally signed his paintings with his full birth name in Greek letters, Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος .El Greco was born on Crete, which was at...
, Jusepe de Ribera, Francisco de Zurbarán etc.) ; - Ancient German, Flemish and Dutch painting (mainly 16th and 17th centuries) (Lucas Cranach the ElderLucas Cranach the ElderLucas Cranach the Elder , was a German Renaissance painter and printmaker in woodcut and engraving...
, Quentin Metsys, RubensRubensRubens is often used to refer to Peter Paul Rubens , the Flemish artist.Rubens may also refer to:- People :Family name* Paul Rubens Rubens is often used to refer to Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), the Flemish artist.Rubens may also refer to:- People :Family name* Paul Rubens (composer) Rubens is...
, Anthony Van DyckAnthony van DyckSir Anthony van Dyck was a Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England. He is most famous for his portraits of Charles I of England and his family and court, painted with a relaxed elegance that was to be the dominant influence on English portrait-painting for the next...
, Jacob JordaensJacob JordaensJacob Jordaens was one of three Flemish Baroque painters, along with Peter Paul Rubens and Anthony van Dyck, to bring prestige to the Antwerp school of painting. Unlike those contemporaries he never traveled abroad to study Italian painting, and his career is marked by an indifference to their...
, Rembrandt etc.); - 20th century painting (including Edouard VuillardÉdouard VuillardJean-Édouard Vuillard was a French painter and printmaker associated with the Nabis.-Early years and education:...
, Pierre BonnardPierre BonnardPierre Bonnard was a French painter and printmaker, as well as a founding member of Les Nabis.-Biography:...
, Georges RouaultGeorges RouaultGeorges Henri Rouault[p] was a French Fauvist and Expressionist painter, and printmaker in lithography and etching.-Childhood and education:Rouault was born in Paris into a poor family...
, Henri MatisseHenri MatisseHenri Matisse was a French artist, known for his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known primarily as a painter...
, Pablo PicassoPablo PicassoPablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
, Georges BraqueGeorges BraqueGeorges Braque[p] was a major 20th century French painter and sculptor who, along with Pablo Picasso, developed the art style known as Cubism.-Early Life:...
, André DerainAndré DerainAndré Derain was a French artist, painter, sculptor and co-founder of Fauvism with Henri Matisse.-Early years:...
, Maurice de VlaminckMaurice de VlaminckMaurice de Vlaminck was a French painter. Along with André Derain and Henri Matisse he is considered one of the principal figures in the Fauve movement, a group of modern artists who from 1904 to 1908 were united in their use of intense color.-Life:Maurice de Vlaminck was born in Paris to a family...
, Amedeo ModiglianiAmedeo ModiglianiAmedeo Clemente Modigliani was an Italian painter and sculptor who worked mainly in France. Primarily a figurative artist, he became known for paintings and sculptures in a modern style characterized by mask-like faces and elongation of form...
, Fernand LégerFernand LégerJoseph Fernand Henri Léger was a French painter, sculptor, and filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of Cubism which he gradually modified into a more figurative, populist style...
, Joan MiróJoan MiróJoan Miró i Ferrà was a Spanish Catalan painter, sculptor, and ceramicist born in Barcelona.Earning international acclaim, his work has been interpreted as Surrealism, a sandbox for the subconscious mind, a re-creation of the childlike, and a manifestation of Catalan pride...
, Giorgio de ChiricoGiorgio de ChiricoGiorgio de Chirico was a pre-Surrealist and then Surrealist Italian painter born in Volos, Greece, to a Genovese mother and a Sicilian father. He founded the scuola metafisica art movement...
, Max ErnstMax ErnstMax Ernst was a German painter, sculptor, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was one of the primary pioneers of the Dada movement and Surrealism.-Early life:...
, Francis BaconFrancis Bacon (painter)Francis Bacon , was an Irish-born British figurative painter known for his bold, austere, graphic and emotionally raw imagery. Bacon's painterly but abstract figures typically appear isolated in glass or steel geometrical cages set against flat, nondescript backgrounds...
and painters of the Paris School etc.);
Sculptures
At the heart of the abbey's former cloister is now a municipal garden, right in the centre of the town, on the peninsula. It is decorated with several 19th century's statues:- two sculptures by RodinAuguste RodinFrançois-Auguste-René Rodin , known as Auguste Rodin , was a French sculptor. Although Rodin is generally considered the progenitor of modern sculpture, he did not set out to rebel against the past...
: The shadow, or Adam (1902) and The temptation of Saint Anthony (1900) ; - a sculpture by Léon-Alexandre DelhommeLéon-Alexandre DelhommeLéon-Alexandre Delhomme was French sculptor. He is immortalised by a statue in the cimetière du Montparnasse in Paris.-Life:...
representing Democrites meditating on the seat of the soul (1864) ; - a sculpture by Emile Antoine BourdelleAntoine BourdelleAntoine Bourdelle , originally Émile Antoine Bourdelle, was an influential and prolific French sculptor, painter, and teacher.-Career:...
representing Carpeaux at workJean-Baptiste CarpeauxJean-Baptiste Carpeaux was a French sculptor and painter.Born in Valenciennes, Nord, son of a mason, his early studies were under François Rude. Carpeaux entered the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in 1844 and won the Prix de Rome in 1854, and moving to Rome to find inspiration, he there studied the works of...
(1909) ; - a Venus (1918–1928) by Aristide MaillolAristide MaillolAristide Maillol or Aristides Maillol was a French Catalan sculptor and painter.-Biography:...
; - an OdalisqueOdalisqueAn odalisque was a female slave in an Ottoman seraglio. She was an assistant or apprentice to the concubines and wives, and she might rise in status to become one of them...
(1841) by James PradierJames PradierJames Pradier, also known as Jean-Jacques Pradier was a Swiss-born French sculptor best known for his work in the neoclassical style.-Life and work:...
, - a group by Antoine EtexAntoine ÉtexAntoine Étex was a French sculptor, painter and architect. He was born in Paris.He first exhibited in the Paris Salon of 1833, his work including a reproduction in marble of his "Death of Hyacinthus", and the plaster cast of his "Cain and his race cursed by God"...
representing Caïn and his race cursed by God
The main part of the collection is displayed in two divided sections : at the ground floor for Medieval and Renaissance sculptures and in the old baroque refectory, which has been renovated, for 19th century and early 20th century sculptures.
Egypt
Ancient EgyptAncient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
is the main theme of the museum's antiquities department, due to the historic importance of egyptology
Egyptology
Egyptology is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious practices in the AD 4th century. A practitioner of the discipline is an “Egyptologist”...
in Lyon, animated by men like Victor Loret
Victor Loret
Victor Clement Georges Philippe Loret was a French Egyptologist.-Biography:Loret studied with Gaston Maspero at the École des Hautes Études. In 1897 he became the head of the Egyptian Antiquities Service. In March 1898, he discovered KV35, the tomb of Amenhotep II in the Valley of the Kings...
, whose family gave over 1000 objects to the museum in 1954. From 1895, the musée du Louvre provided nearly 400 objects (unguent vases, funerary figurines etc.) to form the foundation of the department; other objects (canopic vases, jewellery, material from Antinopolis
Antinopolis
Antinopolis was a city founded at an older Egyptian village by the Roman emperor Hadrian to commemorate his deified young beloved, Antinous, on the east bank of the Nile, not far from the site in Upper Egypt where Antinous drowned in 130 AD...
) were later added to complement this initial donation, and were augmented in 1936 by objects from the artisans' village of Deir el-Medina.
The highlights of the collection are its display of sarcophaguses and the gates of Ptolemy III and Ptolemy IV from the temple of Medamud
Medamud
Medamud was a settlement in Ancient Egypt. Its present-day territory is located about 8 km east-north from Luxor. The temple was excavated by Fernand Bisson de la Roque in 1925, who identified several structures dedicated to the war-god Monthu....
dug by the Lyons archaeologist Alexandre Varille
Alexandre Varille
Alexandre Varille was a French Egyptologist.-Life:From a cultured family, he studied Economics and Letters. During his studies he met Victor Loret, his Egyptology professor at the University of Lyon, and followed him in his devotion to Egyptian philology and archaeology...
in 1939. The rest of the objects throw light on everyday life in ancient Egypt.
The collection has 600 works displayed in 9 rooms, in a thematic and chronological sequence:
- Room 1 : Life After Death
Funerary practices displayed via a display of Old Kingdom to Late PeriodLate Period of Ancient EgyptThe Late Period of Ancient Egypt refers to the last flowering of native Egyptian rulers after the Third Intermediate Period from the 26th Saite Dynasty into Persian conquests and ended with the death of Alexander the Great...
coffins, canopic vases, organs, shabtis and 155 amulets on a variety of subjects, as well as a fragment of the tomb of BakenranefBakenranefBakenranef, known by the ancient Greeks as Bocchoris, was briefly a king of the Twenty-fourth dynasty of Egypt. Based at Sais in the western Delta, he ruled Lower Egypt from c. 725 to 720 BC. Though the Ptolemaic period Egyptian historian Manetho considers him the sole member of the Twenty-fourth...
found at Saqqarah, dating to the 26th Dynasty, as well as a Roman-era shroud.
- Room 2 : The divine and its rites
Along this room's length a temple's decoration is recreated, culminating with the gates of Ptolemy III and Ptolemy IV from the late temple at MedamudMedamudMedamud was a settlement in Ancient Egypt. Its present-day territory is located about 8 km east-north from Luxor. The temple was excavated by Fernand Bisson de la Roque in 1925, who identified several structures dedicated to the war-god Monthu....
(the former is fragmentary but retains part of its original polychromy, whereas the latter is nearly complete). The other bas-reliefs in this room come from Koptos - eight are dated to the Middle KingdomMiddle Kingdom of EgyptThe Middle Kingdom of Egypt is the period in the history of ancient Egypt stretching from the establishment of the Eleventh Dynasty to the end of the Fourteenth Dynasty, between 2055 BC and 1650 BC, although some writers include the Thirteenth and Fourteenth dynasties in the Second Intermediate...
and come from a temple to Min. They were discovered by Adolphe ReinachAdolphe ReinachAdolphe Reinach was a French archaeologist and Egyptologist, active in excavations in Greece and Egypt. He was the son of the archaeologist Joseph Reinach and was killed in the first few months of the First World War whilst fighting in the French Army.-External links:*...
in 1909 in the foundations of a late building. 11 other fragments come from the end of the Ptolemaic era, and more precisely the reign of Cleopatra VII. Even if Pharaonic statuary is underrepresented in the museum, the fragment of the statue of Ramses VI in pink granite and the outline of the statue of CommodusCommodusCommodus , was Roman Emperor from 180 to 192. He also ruled as co-emperor with his father Marcus Aurelius from 177 until his father's death in 180. His name changed throughout his reign; see changes of name for earlier and later forms. His accession as emperor was the first time a son had succeeded...
as pharaoh document this aspect of Egyptian art.
- Room 3 : The cult of the divine
Entered through the gate of Ptolemy IV, at the centre of this room is a support from a bark or statue dating to the reign of Ptolemy II. On the walls are shown 3 fragments of bas-reliefs from the 28th Dynasty, also found in Koptos.
- Room 4 : Images and emblems of the divine
This room's three cases contain a collection of bronze statuettes of divinities from the Egyptian pantheon, with a rare represenation of HapyHapyHapi, sometimes transliterated as Hapy, not to be confused with another god of the same name, was a deification of the annual flooding of the Nile River in Ancient Egyptian religion, which deposited rich silt on its banks, allowing the Egyptians to grow crops. His name means Running One, probably...
, god of the Nile, dating from the Late Period. One whole case is devoted to representations of OsirisOsirisOsiris is an Egyptian god, usually identified as the god of the afterlife, the underworld and the dead. He is classically depicted as a green-skinned man with a pharaoh's beard, partially mummy-wrapped at the legs, wearing a distinctive crown with two large ostrich feathers at either side, and...
and another to those of the pharaoh. Here can be seen a head of a pharaoh of the 30th Dynasty, attributed to Nectanebo IINectanebo IINectanebo II was the third and last pharaoh of the Thirtieth dynasty, as well as the last native ruler of Ancient Egypt. Under Nectanebo II Egypt prospered...
, a Middle Kingdom bust (characterised by its over-large ears) and a scarab with the name of Amenhotep IIAmenhotep IIAmenhotep II was the seventh Pharaoh of the 18th dynasty of Egypt. Amenhotep inherited a vast kingdom from his father Thutmose III, and held it by means of a few military campaigns in Syria; however, he fought much less than his father, and his reign saw the effective cessation of hostilities...
.
- Room 5 : Pharaoh and his servants
In one case are 18 wooden models of the 23rd Dynasty from Assiout from tombs, representing scenes from everyday life, like grazing cattle or beermaking. In the opposite case are two with displays on writing and on the pharaoh's servants respectively. The latter has, among other objects, a limestoneLimestoneLimestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
statue of an anonymous Old Kingdom couple, a Ptolemaic male bust and a fragment of a statuette of a kneeling scribe.
- Room 6 : Stelae
Arranged around a wooden statue of Osiris are four Middle Kingdom stelae, eight New Kingdom stelae and four of the Roman era. One of the most beautiful is that of PtahmosePtahmose (vizier)Ptahmose was a High Priest of Amun and Vizier of southern Egypt-, under Amenhotep III . Certain historians place him at the end of the reign in 1378 BC...
, high priest of AmonAmunAmun, reconstructed Egyptian Yamānu , was a god in Egyptian mythology who in the form of Amun-Ra became the focus of the most complex system of theology in Ancient Egypt...
, vizir of ThebesThebes, EgyptThebes is the Greek name for a city in Ancient Egypt located about 800 km south of the Mediterranean, on the east bank of the river Nile within the modern city of Luxor. The Theban Necropolis is situated nearby on the west bank of the Nile.-History:...
and chief of works under Amenophis III, which retains traces of its polychromy.
- Room 7 : Everyday life
One case contains 14 Protohistoric and Predynastic vases, whilst another shows a selection of vases from the New Kingdom to the Late PeriodLate Period of Ancient EgyptThe Late Period of Ancient Egypt refers to the last flowering of native Egyptian rulers after the Third Intermediate Period from the 26th Saite Dynasty into Persian conquests and ended with the death of Alexander the Great...
. The main case in the room contains many unique pieces, such as the 2nd Dynasty stela of Nes-Henou, or the magnificent wooden male head of the 28th Dynasty, perhaps part of the ornamentation of a harp, as well as everyday objects like sandals, mirrors, jewellery and even a stool.
- Room 8 : Egypt and the Greeks - Egypt and Rome
Greek and Roman influence on Egyptian art, particularly as seen in private works of art such as a series of terracotta figurines of Egyptian divinities with Hellenistic traits, along with five 2nd and 3rd century funerary stelae from Koptos showing PalmyrenePalmyraPalmyra was an ancient city in Syria. In the age of antiquity, it was an important city of central Syria, located in an oasis 215 km northeast of Damascus and 180 km southwest of the Euphrates at Deir ez-Zor. It had long been a vital caravan city for travellers crossing the Syrian desert...
influence
- Room 9 : Egypt and the Roman Empire - Coptic Christianity
Gold plated funerary masks from the Roman period, and bas-reliefs, pateraPateraA patera was a broad, shallow dish used for drinking, primarily in a ritual context such as a libation. These paterae were often used in Rome....
s and textiles from the CoptCoptThe Copts are the native Egyptian Christians , a major ethnoreligious group in Egypt....
ic civilisation, including a fragment of the famous "shawl of Sabina".
Near East and Middle East
One room contains cylinder seals, clay tablets and bas-reliefs from the SumerSumer
Sumer was a civilization and historical region in southern Mesopotamia, modern Iraq during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age....
ian, Assyria
Assyria
Assyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...
n and Babylonian civilisations, as well as Luristan bronzes, ceramics and statuettes from Cyprus
History of Cyprus
-Prehistory:Cyprus was settled by humans in the Paleolithic period who coexisted with various dwarf animal species, such as dwarf elephants and pygmy hippos well into the Holocene...
and a fine collection of Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
n objects (including an anthropoid sarcophagus and a marble bas-relief).
Ancient Greece and Italy
A single room is devoted to the main work in this department, the 6th century BC marble koreKore (sculpture)
Kore is the name given to a type of ancient Greek sculpture of the Archaic period.There are multiple theories on who they represent, and as to whether they represent mortals or deities - one theory is that they represent Persephone the daughter in the triad of the Mother Goddess cults or votary...
from the Acropolis of Athens
Acropolis of Athens
The Acropolis of Athens or Citadel of Athens is the best known acropolis in the world. Although there are many other acropoleis in Greece, the significance of the Acropolis of Athens is such that it is commonly known as The Acropolis without qualification...
. A second room is dedicated to ancient Greece
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
, containing a series of Attic vases
Pottery of Ancient Greece
As the result of its relative durability, pottery is a large part of the archaeological record of Ancient Greece, and because there is so much of it it has exerted a disproportionately large influence on our understanding of Greek society...
in black-figure
Black-figure pottery
Black-figure pottery painting, also known as the black-figure style or black-figure ceramic is one of the most modern styles for adorning antique Greek vases. It was especially common between the 7th and 5th centuries BC, although there are specimens dating as late as the 2nd century BC...
or red-figure
Red-figure pottery
Red-figure vase painting is one of the most important styles of figural Greek vase painting. It developed in Athens around 530 BC and remained in use until the late 3rd century BC. It replaced the previously dominant style of Black-figure vase painting within a few decades...
, bronzes and terracotta Tanagra figurines. Finally, a small room is devoted to Magna Graecia
Magna Graecia
Magna Græcia is the name of the coastal areas of Southern Italy on the Tarentine Gulf that were extensively colonized by Greek settlers; particularly the Achaean colonies of Tarentum, Crotone, and Sybaris, but also, more loosely, the cities of Cumae and Neapolis to the north...
, with many ceramics and bronze helmets.
Roman sculpture is also presented across several rooms - marble statues (a torso of Venus, a child on a cockerel, statues of draped figures etc.) and also small bronze figurines of divinities (Mercury, Venus, Mars etc.) and everyday objects.
Objets d’Art
This department's collection ranges from the Middle Ages to the 20th century and includes:- Byzantine ivories
- LimogesLimogesLimoges |Limousin]] dialect of Occitan) is a city and commune, the capital of the Haute-Vienne department and the administrative capital of the Limousin région in west-central France....
enamels - Renaissance faience and maiolica
- Art Nouveau room of Hector GuimardHector GuimardHector Guimard was an architect, who is now the best-known representative of the French Art Nouveau style of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries....
, - Islamic art
- Far East ceramics
- Chinese, Korean and Japanese stoneware (since 1917) - rare pieces illustrating the tea ceremonyTea ceremonyA tea ceremony is a ritualised form of making tea. The term generally refers to either chayi Chinese tea ceremony, chado Japanese tea ceremony, tarye Korean tea ceremony. The Japanese tea ceremony is more well known, and was influenced by the Chinese tea ceremony during ancient and medieval times....
, displayed next to the Art NouveauArt NouveauArt Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...
ceramics they inspired.
Coins and medals
Lyon's "médaillier" is the second largest one in France after that in Paris, with nearly 50,000 coins, medals, seals and other objects. It is known at a European level and has held a prominent place in the numismatic world from its beginnings in the 19th century to recent discoveries of the treasuries of the Terreaux and the Célestins.Graphic arts
This department was created at the start of the 19th century and includes works on paper - drawings, prints, engravings, watercolours etc. - based on line rather than colour. In all it more than 8,000 works, including ones by Filippino LippiFilippino Lippi
Filippino Lippi was an Italian painter working during the High Renaissance in Florence, Italy.-Biography:...
, Parmigianino
Parmigianino
Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola , also known as Francesco Mazzola or more commonly as Parmigianino or sometimes "Parmigiano", was an Italian Mannerist painter and printmaker active in Florence, Rome, Bologna, and his native city of Parma...
, Fra Bartolomeo, Leonetto Cappiello
Leonetto Cappiello
Leonetto Cappiello was an Italian poster art designer who lived in Paris. He is now often called 'the father of modern advertising' because of his innovation in poster design...
, Nicolas Poussin
Nicolas Poussin
Nicolas Poussin was a French painter in the classical style. His work predominantly features clarity, logic, and order, and favors line over color. His work serves as an alternative to the dominant Baroque style of the 17th century...
, François Boucher
François Boucher
François Boucher was a French painter, a proponent of Rococo taste, known for his idyllic and voluptuous paintings on classical themes, decorative allegories representing the arts or pastoral occupations, intended as a sort of two-dimensional furniture...
, Ingres
Ingres
Ingres Database is a commercially supported, open-source SQL relational database management system intended to support large commercial and government applications...
, Théodore Géricault
Théodore Géricault
Jean-Louis André Théodore Géricault was a profoundly influential French artist, painter and lithographer, known for The Raft of the Medusa and other paintings...
, Eugène Delacroix
Eugène Delacroix
Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic school...
, Camille Corot, Honoré Daumier
Honoré Daumier
Honoré Daumier was a French printmaker, caricaturist, painter, and sculptor, whose many works offer commentary on social and political life in France in the 19th century....
, Odilon Redon
Odilon Redon
Bertrand-Jean Redon, better known as Odilon Redon was a French symbolist painter, printmaker, draughtsman and pastellist.-Life:...
, Puvis de Chavannes
Pierre Puvis de Chavannes
Pierre Puvis de Chavannes was a French painter, who became the president and co-founder of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts and whose work influenced many other artists.-Life:...
, Edgar Degas
Edgar Degas
Edgar Degas[p] , born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, was a French artist famous for his work in painting, sculpture, printmaking and drawing. He is regarded as one of the founders of Impressionism although he rejected the term, and preferred to be called a realist...
, Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse was a French artist, known for his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known primarily as a painter...
, Fernand Léger
Fernand Léger
Joseph Fernand Henri Léger was a French painter, sculptor, and filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of Cubism which he gradually modified into a more figurative, populist style...
and a remarkable study by Albrecht Dürer
Albrecht Dürer
Albrecht Dürer was a German painter, printmaker, engraver, mathematician, and theorist from Nuremberg. His prints established his reputation across Europe when he was still in his twenties, and he has been conventionally regarded as the greatest artist of the Northern Renaissance ever since...
.
Magazine
On the initiative of René Jullian, in 1952 the "Bulletin des musées lyonnais" was created, and 8 years later changed its name to "Bulletin des musées et monuments Lyonnais". In 2003 it changed to an annual publication and again changed its name, to "Cahiers du musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon".Collection
- Cloth of St GereonCloth of St GereonThe Cloth of St Gereon is a mural tapestry of a repeat pattern with a decorative motif of a bull being attacked by a griffin, a fantastic creature with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle. The Cloth of St Gereon is the oldest known European tapestry still existing, dating to the...
, a fragment they have in their inventory. It happens to be the oldest European tapestry still existing.