Art museum, Historic site, Military museum in rue de Grenelle, Paris
Musee de l'Armee
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c4/Mus%C3%A9e_de_l%27Arm%C3%A9e%2C_Paris_4_May_2019.jpg/250px-Mus%C3%A9e_de_l%27Arm%C3%A9e%2C_Paris_4_May_2019.jpg) Musee de l'Armee, Paris.
|
![Map](https://maps.wikimedia.org/img/osm-intl,15,a,a,250x200.png?lang=en&domain=en.wikipedia.org&title=Army_Museum_%28Paris%29&revid=1211691116&groups=_99167b1ace5abc6c4434b281096fe1cd819a0aa6) |
Established
| 1905
|
---|
Location
| Hotel national des Invalides, 129 rue de Grenelle, 75007 Paris
|
---|
Coordinates
| 48°51′25″N
2°18′46″E
/
48.85694°N 2.31278°E
/
48.85694; 2.31278
|
---|
Type
| Art museum
,
Historic site
,
Military museum
|
---|
Visitors
| 1,252,095 (2019), 1,071,072 (2022)
|
---|
Director
| Henry de Medlege (since August 2020)
|
---|
Public transit access
| Invalides
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a9/Paris_transit_icons_-_M%C3%A9tro_13.svg/20px-Paris_transit_icons_-_M%C3%A9tro_13.svg.png) Varenne
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a9/Paris_transit_icons_-_M%C3%A9tro_13.svg/20px-Paris_transit_icons_-_M%C3%A9tro_13.svg.png) La Tour-Maubourg
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e8/Paris_transit_icons_-_M%C3%A9tro_8.svg/20px-Paris_transit_icons_-_M%C3%A9tro_8.svg.png) Invalides
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8c/Paris_RER_C_icon.svg/20px-Paris_RER_C_icon.svg.png) |
---|
Website
| musee-armee
.fr
|
---|
The
Musee de l'Armee
(
French:
[myze
d?
la?me]
; "Army Museum") is a national military museum of France located at
Les Invalides
in the
7th arrondissement of Paris
. It is served by
Paris Metro
stations
Invalides
,
Varenne
and
La Tour-Maubourg
The Musee de l'Armee was created in 1905 with the merger of the Musee d'Artillerie and the Musee Historique de l'Armee.
[1]
The museum's seven main spaces and departments contain collections that span the period from antiquity through the 20th century.
History
[
edit
]
The Musee de l'Armee was created in 1905 with the merger of the Musee d'Artillerie and the Musee Historique de l'Armee.
[1]
The
Musee de l'artillerie
(Museum of Artillery ? "
artillerie
" meaning all things related to weapons) was founded in 1795 in the aftermath of the
French Revolution
, and expanded under
Napoleon
. It was moved into the
Hotel des Invalides
in 1871, immediately following the
Franco-Prussian War
and the proclamation of the
Third Republic
. Another institution called the
Musee historique de l'Armee
(Historical Museum of the Army) was created in 1896 following the
Paris World Fair
. The two institutions merged in 1905 within the space of the former
Musee de l'Artillerie
. Today, it holds 500,000 artifacts, including weapons, armour, artillery, uniforms, emblems and paintings, exhibited in an area of 12,000 m
2
. The permanent collections are organised into "historical collections", representing a chronological tour from ancient times through the end of
World War II
.
In March 1878, the museum hosted an "
ethnographic
exhibition", as it was called, which represented the main "types" of
Oceania
,
America
,
Asia
and
Africa
. Dummies representing people from the
colonies
, along with weapons and equipment, were the main attraction. The exhibit, organised by Colonel Le Clerc, attempted to demonstrate theories of
unilineal evolution
, putting the European man at the apex of human history.
[2]
Parts of this collection began to be transferred to the
Ethnographic Museum of the Trocadero
in 1910 and in 1917; the last colonial rooms were closed just after the 1931
Paris Colonial Exhibition
.
[2]
All remnants were transferred after the
Second World War
.
[2]
Significant holdings
[
edit
]
The Musee de l'Armee has identified 24
aesthetic
, technical and symbolic "treasures," which are all closely linked to French military history from the late
Middle Ages
through to
World War II
. They include weapons, armour, works of arts and technology.
[3]
Main spaces
[
edit
]
The museum consists of six main spaces.
Main Courtyard and artillery collections
[
edit
]
Bombarde-mortier d'Aubusson
, the largest known in the world.
Gribeauval
cannon (1780s)
The Main Courtyard is the centre of the Hotel National des Invalides and displays a large part of the artillery collections, gathered during the
French Revolution
. The collection traces 200 years of the history of French field artillery and enables visitors to discover how the equipment was manufactured, its role and the history of great French artillerymen.
[4]
Contains
:
- 60 French classical bronze cannons
- A dozen
howitzers
and mortars
Armour and weapons, 13th?17th centuries
[
edit
]
Gendarme
heavy cavalry armour
Mail and plate armour
with full
horse armor
of an
Ottoman
Mamluk
horseman, circa 1550
The Musee de l'Armee has a rich ancient collection, which makes it one of the three largest arms museums in the world.
[5]
Contains
:
- The Royal Room:
crown
collections
- The Medieval Room: artifacts from the
feudal
army to the royal army
- The Louis XIII Room: the progress of the royal army)
- A Themed Arsenal Gallery
- An exhibit on Courtly Leisure Activities (late
Middle Ages
to mid-17th century)
- some rooms of antique and oriental armament
Modern Department, from Louis XIV to Napoleon III, 1643?1870
[
edit
]
This department covers the military, political, social and industrial history of France, reliving great battles, exploring the lives of soldiers, and tracing the development of technologies and tactics.
[6]
Contains
:
- Privates' uniforms
- Luxury weapons and arms
- Equipment of numerous French and foreign regiments
- Illustrious figures, such as
Napoleon Bonaparte
and his marshals
[6]
Contemporary Department, the Two World Wars 1871?1945
[
edit
]
French 75 mm field gun
(1897)
The contemporary department tells the story of the French Army from 1871 to 1945, and the two great conflicts of the 20th century.
[7]
Contains
:
- French and foreign uniforms, including some having belonged to illustrious military leaders (
Foch
,
Joffre
,
de Lattre
,
Leclerc
, etc.)
- Objects used by soldiers in daily life
- Prestige pieces: marshals' batons and
ceremonial swords
:
- Emblems, paintings and elements from personal archives: letters, postcards, etc.
[7]
The Charles de Gaulle Monument
[
edit
]
The Multi-Screen Room
The
Charles de Gaulle Monument
(
Historial
) is an interactive multimedia space dedicated to the work of
Charles de Gaulle
, the leader of the
Free French Forces
and founding President of the
Fifth Republic
.
[8]
Contains
:
- The Multi-Screen Room
- The Ring: "an overview of the century" projected onto a circular glass ring
- The Permanent Exhibition
[8]
Cabinets insolites
[
edit
]
Three cabinets are dedicated to special collections.
Contains
:
- Artillery models from the 16th to 19th c.
- Military music
instruments, selected among the 350 of the collection
- Military figurines, with 5000 toy soldiers displayed of a collection of 140000
The Army museum is associated with four additional spaces:
Musee de l'Ordre de la Liberation
[
edit
]
The museum is dedicated to the
Ordre de la Liberation
, France's second national order after the
Legion d'honneur
, which was created in 1940 by General
Charles de Gaulle
, leader of the
Free French Forces
.
Contains
three galleries:
- Free France
- Interior Resistance
- Deportation
Musee des Plans-Reliefs
[
edit
]
Model of
Chateau-d'Oleron
in the Musee des Plans-Reliefs (1703)
The
Musee des Plans-Reliefs
is a museum of
military models
located within the Musee de l'Armee. About 100 models, created between 1668 and 1870, are currently on display in the museum. The construction of models dates to 1668 when the
Marquis de Louvois
, minister of war to
Louis XIV
, began a collection of three-dimensional models of fortified cities for military purposes, and kept growing until 1870 with the disappearance of
fortifications bastionnees
.
Cathedral of Saint-Louis des Invalides
[
edit
]
Interior of Cathedral of Saint-Louis des Invalides
In 1676, the Secretary of State for War,
Marquis de Louvois
, entrusted the young architect
Jules Hardouin-Mansart
with the construction of the chapel, which
Liberal Bruant
had been unable to complete. The architect designed a building which combined a royal chapel, the "Dome des Invalides", and a veterans' chapel.
[9]
This way, the King and his soldiers could attend mass simultaneously, while entering the place of worship though different entrances, as prescribed by etiquette. This separation was reinforced in the 19th century with the erection of the tomb of Napoleon I, the creation of the two separate altars and then with the construction of a glass wall between the two chapels.
[9]
Contains
:
Dome des Invalides
[
edit
]
The Dome des Invalides is the emblem of the Hotel National des Invalides and an unmissable monument in the Parisian landscape.
[10]
Contains
:
- The Dome Church
- The Tomb of Napoleon I
[10]
Collection
[
edit
]
-
The
Sword of Francois I
(16th century)
-
Olifant carved in an elephant tusk
-
Hunting crossbow
-
Set of cold weapons
-
Powder flask (Mid-16th century)
-
Priming flask (Circa. 1600)
-
The Saint-Gilles gun (1507)
-
Culverin called Wurtembourgeoise (End-16th century)
-
Bronze cannon said to be of Cardinal Richelieu, ca. 1600)
-
-
The
Qianlong Emperor
's armour (18th century)
-
37 mm TRP Mle 1916 rapid-fire infantry cannon
-
Taxi de la Marne (1914)
-
-
-
Luger pistol
used in the (1930s)
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
"Musee de l'Armee ? Hotel national des Invalides"
. Retrieved
17 April
2013
.
- ^
a
b
c
Gilles Aubagnac, "En 1878, les "sauvages" entrent au musee de l'Armee" in
Zoos humains. De la Venus hottentote aux reality shows
, Nicolas Bancel, Pascal Blanchard, Gilles Boetsch, Eric Deroo, Sandrine Lemaire, edition La Decouverte (2002), p.349-354
(in French)
- ^
"Museum treasures"
. Retrieved
28 April
2013
.
- ^
"The Main Courtyard and artillery collections"
. Archived from
the original
on 23 March 2013
. Retrieved
17 April
2013
.
- ^
"Old armour and weapons, 13th?17th century"
. Archived from
the original
on 16 April 2013
. Retrieved
17 April
2013
.
- ^
a
b
"Modern department, from Louis XIV to Napoleon III, 1643?1870"
. Retrieved
17 April
2013
.
- ^
a
b
"Contemporary department, the Two World Ward 1871?1945"
. Retrieved
17 April
2013
.
- ^
a
b
"The Charles de Gaulle Monument"
. Archived from
the original
on 22 March 2013
. Retrieved
17 April
2013
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Cathedral of Saint-Louis des Invalides"
. Retrieved
17 April
2013
.
- ^
a
b
"The Dome des Invalides"
. Retrieved
17 April
2013
.
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
Neighbourhoods
| |
---|
Primary and secondary schools
| |
---|
Colleges and universities
| |
---|
Landmarks
| |
---|
Paris Metro stations
| |
---|
Paris RER stations
| |
---|
|
---|
International
| |
---|
National
| |
---|
Academics
| |
---|
Artists
| |
---|
Other
| |
---|