Musée Carnavalet

Paris

The Musée Carnavalet in Paris is dedicated to the history of the city. The museum occupies two neighboring mansions: the Hôtel Carnavalet and the former Hôtel Le Peletier de Saint Fargeau. On the advice of Baron Haussmann, the civil servant who transformed Paris in the latter half of the 19th century, the Hôtel Carnavalet was purchased by the Municipal Council of Paris in 1866; it was opened to the public in 1880. By the latter part of the 20th century, the museum was full to capacity. The Hôtel Le Peletier de Saint Fargeau was annexed to the Carnavalet and opened to the public in 1989.

The building, an historic monument from the 16th century, contains furnished rooms from different periods of Paris history, historic objects, and a very large collection of paintings of Paris life; it features works by artists including Joos Van Cleve, Frans Pourbus the Younger, Jacques-Louis David, Hippolyte Lecomte, François Gérard, Louis-Léopold Boilly, and Étienne Aubry, to Tsuguharu Foujita, Louis Béroud, Jean Béraud, Carolus Duran, Jean-Louis Forain, Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, Johan Barthold Jongkind, Henri Gervex, Alfred Stevens, Paul Signac, and Simon-Auguste. They depict the city's history and development, and its notable characters.

Carnavalet Museum is one of the 14 City of Paris's museums that have been incorporated since January 1, 2013, in the public institution Paris Musées. In October 2016, the museum was closed to the public for a major renovation. It reopened in 2021 with new rooms and galleries and an expanded collection.

History

The land on which the museum stands was purchased in 1544 by Jacques de Ligneris, the president of the Parliament of Paris, who commissioned the architects Pierre Lescot and Jean Goujon to build a townhouse. In 1548, Lescot and Goujon were taken away from the project to the construct the new Louvre Palace; the building was completed in about 1560 by Jean Bullant, whose other notable works included portions of the Tuileries Palace, the Louvre. the Château d'Écouen, and the famous gallery of the Chateau de Chenonceau spanning the River Cher in the Loire Valley.

In 1572, the hôtel was purchased by Madame de Kernevenoy, the widow of a member of the Court of Henry II of France, and the preceptor of the Duke of Anjou, who became Henry III of France. Her Breton name was difficult for the Parisians to pronounce, and gradually was transformed to "Carnavalet". During this period, the facade and portals were given lavish decoration of Renaissance sculpture, much of which still can be seen. They were the work of the sculptor Jean Goujon and his workshop.

The mansion was bought in 1654 by the intendant Claude Boislève, who commissioned the architect François Mansart to make extensive renovations in the new classical style. This included raising the height of the facade on the street and on the two wings by one storey, as well as the addition of groups of classical sculpture on the main facade and on the two wings. Boislève had the misfortune of being too closely associated with Fouquet, the royal chancellor who was accused of misusing using royal funds to build his own palatial residence. The hôtel and furnishings were confiscated from Boisléve in 1662, and sold at auction. The new buyer rented the hotel in 1677 to Madame de Sévigné, famous for her letters describing the daily life and intrigues of the Parisian nobility. She lived in the Hôtel Carnavalet from 1677 until her death in 1696.

The idea of creating a museum of Paris history was launched by Baron Haussmann, who, under Napoleon III, was in the midst of his grand project of building new avenues, parks and squares in the center of the city. In 1866 he persuaded the city of Paris to purchase the Hotel Carnavalet to house the museum, and assembled a large collection of history objects and documents. Until the museum was completed, the collection was stored, with the city archives, in the vaults of the Hotel de Ville. In May 1871, in the last days of the Paris Commune, the Communards set fire to the Hotel de Ville, destroying the building, the city archives, and the collection. The door of the original Hotel de Ville, still charred from the fire, is on display in the museum. The collection was gradually rebuilt, and in 1880 the building formally became the museum of the history of Paris.

Many more additions followed, as the collection grew. In 1872, the building was enlarged on three sides, largely using vestiges of buildings demolished during Hausmann's construction of the Grand Boulevards in the center of the city. At the beginning of the 20th century, two new wings were added in the rear, which enclosed the garden. An even larger expansion program was begun in 1913 by he architect Roger Foucault. The project was interrupted by the First World War, but resumed after the war and was finally completed in 1921, doubling the exposition space in the museum. The new buildings finally enclosed the Cour Henri IV and the courtyard called "de la Victore".

Expansion continued. In 1989, a nearby mansion, the Hôtel Le Peletier de Saint Fargeau, was purchased and connected with the museum. This hotel was also built in the middle of the 16th century, and was originally known as the Hôtel d'Orgeval. It was purchased by Michel Le Peletier and passed on eventually to his grandson, Le Peletier de Saint Fargeau, who was a representative of the nobility in the Estates-General of 1789. In 1793, Le Peletier voted for the execution of Louis XVI, and was murdered, in revenge for his vote, on January 20, 1793, the same day as the execution of the king, . The Hôtel Le Peletier de Saint Fargeau was annexed to the Carnavalet. It was opened to the public in 1989, commemorating the bicentennial of the French Revolution.

The museum was closed in 2017 for a major renovation, and reopened in 2021. The museum as of 2021 had forty decorated rooms and galleries, and 3800 objects on display. The total collection, as of 2021, included 625,000 objects.