VISITOR GUIDE
MUSÉE D’ART
ET D’HISTOIRE
GENEVA
Un musée
Ville de Genève
www.mah-geneve.ch-2
REGIONAL ARCHAEOLOGY-1
ARCHAEOLOGY0
RECEPTION LEVEL APPLIED ARTS TEMPORARY EXHIBITION1
APPLIED ARTS GALLERYBuilt between 1903 and 1910 by Genevan architect Marc Camoletti, with the aim of regrouping under one roof a number of dispersed public collections, the Musée d’art et d’histoire is one of Switzerland’s most important encyclopaedic museums. Boasting over half a million objects including a number of major works and unique series that have made it an institution of international stature, the museum maintains a permanent exhibition of a selection of its applied arts, fine arts and archaeology collections. Regional archaeological discoveries, Egyptian and Classical antiquities, artworks, furniture, arms, musical instruments, paintings and sculptures all bear witness to 15,000 years of history.
INTRODUCTION
2
FINE ARTSTHE MUSEUM
BY FLOOR
Elevator Restricted zones Cloakroom Restaurant “Le Barocco” Ten masterpiecesAccess to other levels Disabled access
Depending on the time at your disposal, your tastes and your desires, the Musée d’art et d’histoire can offer a large variety of itineraries. Audio guides and detailed thematic tour suggestions are available at the main entrance. Three examples of possible visits to the museum are as follows.
The portrait theme provides a good idea of the diverse range of the museum’s collections. It takes you from the Egyptian Antiquities to the Fine Arts departments. Along the way you can admire an exceptional group of Roman busts and the delicate pastel likenesses composed by the great 18th-century Genevan portraitist Jean-Étienne Liotard.
The heroines of Antiquity are also to be found all the way from the archaeological era to the fine arts collections. The tragic destinies of Niobe and Cassandra, especially as depicted on red-figure vases, constitute an enchanting circuit through the heart of the Greco-Roman collections. In the fine arts section, the frequent presence of ancient heroines, Andromeda and Lucretia in particular, bear testimony to the continual reinterpretation of themes of Antiquity by later artists.
VISITING
SUGGESTIONS
TEN MASTERPIECES
This selection consists of a tour through the permanent collections with a commentary on the works’ distinctive features and highlights. These ten masterpieces would indeed deserve a visit to the museum all by themselves.
Savoyard helmet
Ca. 1580 Saint James the Greater,
stained glass of St. Peter’s Cathedral 1487
Antonio Canova
Venus and Adonis 1789-1794 and 1820 Konrad Witz The Miraculous Draught of Fishes 1444 Camille Corot
The Quai des Pâquis in Geneva, ca. 1842
NIVEAU 0
NIVEAU 0
NIVEAU 2
NIVEAU 2
NIVEAU 2
Félix Vallotton
The Turkish Bath 1907 Giovanni Giacometti, Orchard in Stampa 1910 Colossal statue of Ramses II 19th Dynasty ca. 1290-1224 BC
Large silver plate, known as the charioteer and the hunters plate
End of the 3rd-beginning
of the 4th century AD Portrait of Pompeia Plotina, wife of Trajan Between 118 and 120 AD A F B C D E G H I J
APPLIED
ARTS
LEVEL 0
*
*
reception levelParade rondache, attributed to Eliseus Libaerts, Antwerp, circa 1557-1560
© MAH, photo : J.-M. Yersin, inv. Arm F 78
WC WC A B 1 -1 1 -1 1 15 14 CLOSED CULTURAL OUTREACH WORKSHOP ENTRANCE 5 FURNITURE AND DECORATIVE ARTS 20th Century 16 TEMPORARY EXHIBITION 1
TEMPORARY EXHIBITION MAIN ENTRY
2 TEMPORARY EXHIBITION 4 CEREMONIAL ROOM OF THE CASTLE OF ZIZERS 17th Century 3 ARMOURY ROOM 9 WESTERN RELIGIOUS MIDDLE AGES 13 TEMPORARY EXHIBITION 8 J.-J. RIGAUD ROOM 6 SALON DE CARTIGNY 18th – 19th Century 7 STATE COUNCIL ROOM 18th Century TEMPORARY EXHIBITION With more than 23,000 objects ranging
in date from the Middle Ages to the 20th century, the applied arts collections are characterised by their diversity. Distributed over two floors (levels 0 and 1), they display a multitude of ancient arms, silverwork, pewterware, textiles and furniture.
The Christian Middle East constitutes the strong point of level 0, in particular thanks to its Coptic and Byzantine pieces including bronzes, liturgical objects and ceramics. The Musée d’art et d’histoire is moreover the only public institution in Switzerland to permanently exhibit a collection of Greek and Russian icons.
The Armoury Room displays arms from the late Middle Ages to the 18th century and presents artefacts from the Escalade episode of 1602, when the Duke of Savoy attempted to seize the city of Geneva. Historic rooms immerse the viewer in a lifelike reconstitution of the past, illustrating the 20th-century predilection for presenting furniture and artworks in their original context.
Temporary exhibitions
APPLIED
ARTS
LEVEL 1
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A selection of the 800 musical instruments conserved by the museum is on display in an area called “musical interlude”. Dating from the late 16th to the early 18th century, these mainly string instruments illustrate the vigour of European instrument making during the Baroque period.
The silverware collection is well stocked with 18th and 19th-century French and Swiss tableware while also including pieces from all over Europe as well as North America and Peru. It is complemented by a large pewterware collection composed primarily of domestic Swiss specimens.
Several historic Swiss rooms, whose sculpted woodwork comes from the Castle of Zizers (Canton of Graubunden), display the decorative arts of the 17th century.
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galleryBuccin, trombone-like wind instrument, circa 1840 © MAH, photo : B. Jacot-Descombes, inv. IM 0496
Due to the transfer of part of the MAH collections to a new patrimonial storage facility, the 1st floor gallery is closed. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
1 1 20 19 18 17 21 24 25 26 27 28 23 22 WC C 0 0 16 29 D 6 LIOTARD PASTELS 18th Century 7 EUROPEAN SCHOOLS 18th Century 8 JEAN-PIERRE SAINT-OURS 9 CALAME AND DIDAY 19th Century 10 TOWARDS THE MODERN LANDSCAPE 5 SWISS PAINTING 18th Century 4 ITALIAN PAINTING 3 DONATION NAPOLEON 2 ITALIAN PAINTING 1 OLD MASTERS 15th - 17th Century ANTONIO CANOVA
Around 1800 HODLER, AN INTIMATE PORTRAIT15
14 GENEVAN MODERNITIES 13 IN PURSUIT OF AN IDEAL 12 FÉLIX VALLOTTON 11 BATHERS E G F The Fine Arts collections, grouped by schools or in
monographic ensembles ranging from the 15th to the 20st century, showcase several key moments in the history of Western painting.
By the spring of 2019, the Fine Arts galleries will feature an entirely new presentation of the collections. The first stage of the redesigned display will propose a tour with a fresh focus on Swiss art, providing thematic insights into portrait and landscape, two of the collection’s strongpoints, and a showcase of the best of Swiss modernity, marked by Symbolism, Fauvism, Futurism or Cubism. New rotating exhibitions rooms dedicated to works from the collection will now be integrated directly into the Fine Arts gallery. Two temporary exhibitions Hodler, an intimate portrait and Bathers, introduce them until the beginning of 2019.
FINE ARTS
LEVEL 2
Claude Monet, Peonies, 1887 © MAH, photo : Y. Siza, inv. 1985-29
7 6 LE BAROCCO I J H 0 0 -2 -2 3 GREECE 4 ITALY BEFORE ROME MEDIEVAL LAPIDARY ART ANCIENT LAPIDARY ART 1 EGYPT ROME5 2 SUDAN
The Antiquities collection contains more than 70,000 objects. Assembled for the most part in the 19th century under the instigation of collectors, they testify to the Genevan taste for ancient civilisations. The pieces are displayed in chronological order, leading the visitor from Pharaonic Egypt to the Roman Empire via Ancient Greece and the peoples of the Italian peninsula before the Roman expansion. The Musée d’art et d’histoire can lay claim to having the largest Egyptian Antiquities collection in Switzerland. The flagship of the Greek collection is unquestionably the Italiote funerary vases collection from the Greek colonies of Southern Italy but the superb group of Roman sculpted portraits is not to be missed either in the Roman Antiquities room.
ARCHAEOLOGY
LEVEL -1
Coffin of Lady Tjesmoutpert, Late Third Intermediate Period, circa 800-700 B.C., Thebes
1 WC -1 -1 2 REGIONAL ARCHAEOLOGY REGIONAL ARCHAEOLOGY 3 CONFERENCE ROOM ENTRESOL AND -2 ENTRESOL The Regional Archaeology room presents the
archaeological discoveries made in the Geneva region over more than a century. The chronological arrangement guides the viewer from the first signs of human occupation, around 13,000 B.C., towards the year 1000 approximately of the modern era. The objects are contextualised by photographs and reconstitutions of the sites.
This room contains one of the museum’s treasures, the oak statue, nearly three metres high, of an Allobrogian (Genevan Gaul) chieftain. Found on the site of the ancient Gallo-Roman port and miraculously conserved by wet earth, this over two-thousand-year-old statue bears witness to the meeting of the Celtic and Roman cultures.
REGIONAL
ARCHAEOLOGY
LEVEL -2
Fragment of a statue of an idealised young man, first half of the 1st century A.D., discovered in Geneva © MAH, photo : P.-A. Ferrazzini, inv. C 2104
SALES OUTLET
The Musées d’art et d’histoire’s exhibition catalogues as well as stationery and children’s games related to the collections are on sale at the museum main entrance.
The area is accessible during the museum’s opening hours.
Information : T +41 (0)22 418 26 10 RESTAURANT LE BAROCCO
Le Barocco draws its recipes from local Genevan traditions and specialises in handmade pastries. During the summer months, an outdoor terrace welcomes customers in the museum’s inner courtyard. The restaurant is only accessible during the museum’s opening hours.
Information and reservations : T +41 (0)22 418 26 82
AUDIOGUIDES
Audioguides in French, English and German are available at the museum entrance. The visitor can choose between a general tour or a Fine Arts itinerary. Duration : 1.5 hours / Rental : CHF
5.-VIDEOGUIDES
A videoguide in French sign language is available at the reception. This tablet computer is lent free of charge with an ID deposit.
ROOM INFORMATION SHEETS
Information sheets are available in most of the museum rooms, in several languages.
Wall clock, movement signed : Chevron 8 jours, n° 15852 et 1776 © MAH, photo : M. Aeschimann, inv. H2005-44
GENERAL INFORMATION Musée d’art et d’histoire
Rue Charles-Galland 2 | CH-1206 Geneva T +41 (0)22 418 26 00 (Monday to Friday) F +41 (0)22 418 26 01
mah@ville-ge.ch
Open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Closed on Monday
Cultural Outreach
Programme of events – Reservations T +41 (0)22 418 25 00
Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 12 noon adp-mah@ville-ge.ch
Handicapped access : Boulevard Jaques-Dalcroze 9
Public transport : Bus lines 1-3-7-8-36, Tram no. 12
Saint-Antoine parking nearby
Entry free of charge for permanent collections Admission charged for temporary exhibitions Entry free of charge up to age 18 and on the first Sunday of every month
Jardin Anglais Parc des Bastions Parc de Malagnou Parc des Contamines Jet d’eau Lac Léman Pont du Mont-Blanc Rue du Mont-Blanc Rue des Alpes Rue de Chantepoulet
Rue de Cornavin Quai du Mont-Blanc
Boulevard Helvétique Boulevard du Pont-d’Arve Boulevard J.-Dalcroze Rue Verdaine R. du P erron Rue Saint-Léger
Boulevard des Philosophes Bd Carl-V ogt Boulevard Georges-F avon Boulevard Georges-F avon Rue d’Italie Rue Pierre-F atio Quai du Général-Guisan
Quai des Bergues
Quai Turrettini Rue du Cendrier Versonnex Rue Charles-Galland Rue De-Candolle Rue du Général-Dufour Avenue du Mail R. de l’Hotel de Ville R. d. Chaudronniers Rue de la Croix-Rouge Rue de la Madeleine Rue de la Rôtisserie Rue du Marché Rampe de la Treille Rue des Granges
Grand-Rue R. Calvin Rue F erdinand-Hodler Rue F rançois-Diday Rue de la Corraterie Rue Adrien-Lachenal Prom. du Pin R. St-Victor
Rue de l’Athénée Route de Florissant
Rue du Rhône Rue du Rhône Rue du Rhône Rue du Stand Rue Voltaire Plaine de Plainpalais Rue du Puits-St-Pierre Rond-Point de Rive Place Neuve Rue des Terreaux du Temple Boulevard James-F azy Pl. Cornavin Gare CFF
THE MUSÉES D’ART ET D’HISTOIRE
Of a multidisciplinary nature, the Geneva Musées d’art et d’histoire extend an invitation to take a voyage back through time. They comprise a network of several different sites that constitute the largest museum group in Switzerland.
1 Musée d’art et d’histoire
2 Cabinet d’arts graphiques du Musée d’art et d’histoire
2 Bibliothèque d’art et d’archéologie du Musée d’art et d’histoire
Maison Tavel
4 Musée Rath
Ferdinand Hodler, Study for “View into Infinity”, 1913-1916, detail
© MAH, photo : B. Jacot-Descombes, inv. 1939-50 design
by
super
Cover :
Félix Vallotton, Back from the Sea, 1924, details © MAH, photo : B. Jacot-Descombes, inv. 1929-0002 Publishing March 2018
