Page 373 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - France

Must See
Must See
TOP TOP FIVE Sculpture
5 PAINTINGS ▶ The museum holds an exceptional collection
of sculpture. It’s particularly strong on
The Adoration works from the Middle Ages, where
of the Magi (1609), highlights include a 12th-
Peter-Paul Ruben century solemn-looking
Rarely has the subject Virgin and Child from the
been treated with such European Paintings and Drawings Auvergne sculpted in
humanity and radiance. wood. Also well
represented is the French
Le Café-concert des Romanesque period and
Ambassadeurs the Italian Renaissance,
(1877), Edgar Degas and there are some
This striking pastel puts striking late 19th- and
the viewer in the crowd. early 20th-century pieces,
Mer agitée à Etretat including works by Rodin
(1883), Claude Monet and Bourdelle (whose statues
The wind-whipped sea also appear in the courtyard),
pounds the coast. Maillol, Despiau and Pompon,
Nave Nave Mahana among others.
(1896), Paul Gaugin
Ahaunting fusion of Objets d’Art
poetry and melancholy The huge decorative arts collection ranges from Byzantine ivories
and Limoges enamels to Lyon silks and Art Nouveau furnishings – as
Femme assise sur seen, for example, in “La Chambre de Madame Guimard”, a collection of
la plage (1937) the furniture designed by Hector Guimard for his wife’s bedroom in
Pablo Picasso their Paris flat. Also on display is an important collection of ceramics
A striking female nude. from the Renaissance era, the Islamic world and East Asia. The
museum alsi boasts an exceptional collection of coins
and medallions.
Antiquities
◀ Included in this wide-ranging collection are
nine rooms of objects from ancient Egypt
as well as artifacts unearthed in
Mesopotamia, Etruscan statuettes and
4,000-year-old Cypriot cera mics.
Highlights include finely decorated
funeral stelea and finds from Egyptian
tombs, including the exquisite head
of a boy carved from wood around
1400 BC.
Paintings
The world-class collection of paintings
▼
includes works by Spanish and Dutch masters,
among them Rembrandt; the French schools of the
17th, 18th and 19th centuries; and Impressionist-era
paintings by the likes of Van Gogh, Manet and Renoir.
The exquisite flower paint ings of the Lyon
School served as a source of inspiration
for the designers of silk fabric. The
museum’s Cabinet d’Arts
Graphiques isn’t generally
open to the public, but
frequent temporary exhi-
bitions showcase some of
the collection’s 4,000-plus
drawings and etchings by
such artists as Delacroix,
Poussin, Géricault, Degas
and Rodin.

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