_2005-08-08.jpg) Museum, in theChâteau de Vizille | |
  Location within France | |
| Established | 1983 |
|---|---|
| Location | Place du château,Vizille, Dept. ofIsère,Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes |
| Type | Art museum, design/textile museum,historic site |
| Visitors | 70,002 (2017) |
| Director | Alain Chevalier |
| Website | musee-revolution-francaise.fr |
TheMusée de la Révolution française (Museum of the French Revolution) is adepartmental museum in the French town ofVizille, 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) south ofGrenoble on theRoute Napoléon. It is the only museum in the world dedicated to theFrench Revolution.
Its exhibits includeJean-Baptiste Wicar'sThe French Republic (the first known representation of the French Republic) andWilliam James Grant'sLa cocarde (TheCockade), representingJosephine de Beauharnais with her daughterHortense. The museum was opened on 13 July 1984 in the presence ofLouis Mermaz, president of theNational Assembly of France.[1]
It is housed in theChâteau de Vizille, which has a long history of artistic conservation, and is home to a documentation centre on the French revolutionary period. The museum also organizes international symposiums about the French Revolution.
Located 15 kilometres (9 mi) south of Grenoble on theRoute Napoléon, theChâteau de Vizille (Castle Lesdiguières) is the former home of the Dukes of Lesdiguières. The founder of the dynasty,François de Bonne de Lesdiguières, completed his castle in 1619. KingLouis XIII, who made himConstable of France, visited it on 3 December 1622. In 1716, the building was transferred to theDukes of Villeroy. The Perier family owned it from 5 June 1780 to 23 December 1895.[2] The castle was the summer residence of the presidents of the French Republic from 1924 to 1972. France ceded the castle and its domain to the General Council ofIsère, which was entrusted with giving it a prestigious cultural role, in 1973.
On 21 July 1788, during the presidency of the count of Morges,[3] theAssembly of Vizille met in the castle'sjeu de paume room after the 7 JuneDay of the Tiles inGrenoble.Pope Pius VI spent a night in the castle at the invitation of ownerClaude Perier on 5 July 1799, andNapoleon stopped there during his return from the island ofElba on 7 March 1815. Used as a factory, the castle experienced a fire in the night of 9–10 November 1825 which spread to part of the city. In 1828, Adolphe Perier (son of owner Augustin Perier and grandson of Claude) married Nathalie de La Fayette (daughter ofGeorges Washington de La Fayette and granddaughter of theMarquis de La Fayette) in the castle. Absent from the ceremony, the Marquis de La Fayette was a guest on 19 August 1829 during a visit with Nathalie.[4] Adolphe Perier, after the death of his father in December 1833, continued restoring the castle. In 1862, after Adolphe's bankruptcy, theAcadémie des Beaux-Arts classified the castle as amonument historique and Henry Fontenilliat (step-father of Auguste Casimir-Perier) became the new owner. Two years later, Henri Fontenilliat died; his daughter, Camille (Auguste's wife), inherited the castle.
The lessons of the 1825 fire were not learned; on 17 February 1865, a second fire destroyed an L-shaped wing containing thejeu de paume room and a battle gallery built in 1615 byLesdiguières. They were never rebuilt.
Activity in the castle's printing factory halted. Auguste Casimir-Perier and his wife, Camille, receivedPhilippe d'Orléans (count of Paris) in 1872 andAdolphe Thiers in 1874. For the centenary of the Assembly of Vizille on 21 July 1888, PresidentSadi Carnot dedicated a statue of Liberty (also calledMarianne) in front of the castle. Sculpted byHenri Ding, its pedestal is engraved with sentences from the assembly and the names of representatives of the province ofDauphiné.
Two months after France purchased the castle,La Dépêche dauphinoise mentioned the possibility of a museum. The newspaper mentioned it again on 6 March 1932, specifying a museum of the French Revolution. With the opening that summer of the nearby Napoleon Road, a room was devoted to the history of the castle. After the 1981 election ofFrançois Mitterrand, the 2 March 1982 decentralization law permitted a museum dedicated to the French Revolution far fromParis. At its 10 June 1983 meeting, the general council of Isère created a museum of the French Revolution in the castle of Vizille. Two people contributed to the museum's founding: Departmental Archives of Isère director Vital Chomel and historian Robert Chagny, curator of its first temporary exhibition. Others who participated in the collection of the first works were Jacqueline Mongellaz (1984–1990) and Alain Chevalier (since 1988). The first rooms of the museum were set up at the beginning of 1984, and its first director (from 1984 to 1996) was art historian Philippe Bordes.[5]
The museum was dedicated on 13 July 1984[6] in the presence of thePresident of the National Assembly, two ministers, and president of its scientific and technical councilMichel Vovelle. In November 1987, work began on the Hall of Columns (later called the Republic Room) two large staircases ascending from the current entrance, and elevator access to all levels of the museum. Two new halls were dedicated on 21 July 1988, but financing difficulties delayed the completion of 600 square metres (6,458 square feet) of the Hall of Columns. When it opened in March 1992, the museum contained twenty rooms on five levels. Since 2010, the site of the formerjeu de paume hall (removed in 1865) is indicated by a hedge to the right of the museum entrance.
The museum's themes, in addition to the revolution, are contemporary movements such asLumières andRomanticism. It features works of art and historical objects from, before and after the revolutionary era.
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The museum is an historical museum based on works of art. These works, more than historical illustrations, are keys to a better understanding of the upheavals and historical context. The paintings and sculptures of the revolutionary era span a variety of styles and genres. The paintings are allegories, historical events, portraits, ancient (or tragic) scenes, and landscapes. Of the statues, several busts are faithful representations ofAntoine Barnave,Bailly,Mirabeau,Louis XVII,Robespierre,Danton and his wife Antoinette, and GeneralLafayette.[7] Statues in a variety of materials includeMadame Roland,Saint-Just, andJean-Jacques Rousseau. Decorative arts illustrate everyday life: furniture,porcelain, and French, English and Dutchfaience. Unique objects are stones from theBastille, swords from theNational Guard, and musical instruments. Drawings, prints, and fragile works (fans, miniatures, and printed fabrics) are protected from light and presented in temporary exhibitions.
Nineteenth-century works include two paintings byLucien-Étienne Mélingue [fr]:Le matin du 10 Therminor An II (The Morning of 10Thermidor Year II)[8] (1877) andJean-Paul Marat (1879), which demonstrate the power of references to the movement which led to theFrench First Republic in the context of their time. Other painters are present in the rooms withLouis-Pierre Baltard,Pierre-Nicolas Legrand de Lérant,Nanine Vallain,Guillaume Guillon-Lethière,Johann Baptist von Lampi the Elder,Adolf Ulrik Wertmüller,Antoine-François Callet,Alfred Elmore,Auguste Vinchon,Henri Félix Emmanuel Philippoteaux,Charles Louis Müller orJacques-Louis David.
Alexandre Debelle (curator of themuseum of Grenoble) paintedThe Assembly of Notables in Vizille, 1788 (also known as theAssembly of the Three Orders of the Dauphiné) in 1853, illustrating the Assembly of Vizille; the painting is on the museum third floor, facing the staircase.[9] About 60 Dauphine notables are depicted in the painting, and a sketch underneath helps visitors locate them. They include lawyer and future mayor of GrenobleAntoine Barnave (standing on the platform), his colleagueMounier (sitting behind the table—with the Count of Morges presiding—and holding a sheet in his hand) andCharles Renauldon [fr] on the left, future representative in theChamber of Representatives and future mayor of Grenoble.
A bronze statue ofJean-Paul Marat, made in 2013 by the Barthélemy Art foundry, replacedJean Baffier's 1883 version.[10] The sculpture, on the museum's forecourt, was dedicated on 16 July 2013. Baffier's statue was purchased by the city of Paris and installed in several public parks (theParc Montsouris, the gardens of theCarnavalet Museum and theParc des Buttes Chaumont) before it was melted down during the Second World War. The stone pedestal supporting the statue contains a quote from Marat's newspaper,L'Ami du peuple.
The Albert Soboul Library and Documentation Centre provides researchers and students with an important resource of often-rare documentation of the art and history of the French Revolution. Created in June 1982 (shortly before the museum opened), it has occupied two levels of the museum's north wing since 2001. In addition to busts and paintings of revolutionary-era figures, it contains documentation of various aspects of the French Revolution, including its artistic and cultural impacts.
The 27,000-title collection, including 20,000 in history, 3,000 in art history and 4,000 works published between 1750 and 1810, is largely made up of legacies and donations from libraries of French Revolution historians.[11] Acquisitions continue to be made worldwide, and a reserve of 4,500 prints dating to before 1805 is kept at a constant temperature and protected from light.
The library was named in June 2005 for historianAlbert Soboul, the foremost French authority on the revolutionary era (who bequeathed his collection of books on the revolution to the museum before his death in 1982). The library was expanded with the libraries of historiansJacques Godechot, Jean-René Suratteau and Roger Barny, which were donated by their families. Visited by researchers from around the world, the library is part of theBibliothèque municipale de Grenoble network.
45°04′32″N5°46′23″E / 45.07556°N 5.77306°E /45.07556; 5.77306
