DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21832#0013
Jean-Marc Hofman
The cast collection of the Musee des Monuments Francais
(Paris). A panegyric of the French heritage
The palace built on the hill of Chaillot for the World Fair of 1878, enlarged for the In-
ternational Exhibition of 1937, houses the Cast collection of the Museum of com-
parative sculpture, renamed Musee des Monuments Franęais. Three years ago,
its reopening in the context of the Cite de lÄrchitecture et du Patrimoine, in Paris,
marked a new phase in the history of this centenary institution. The museum collec-
tions evolved in accordance with the different currents of thought and the doctrines
on heritage which, throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, contributed to promote
medieval archaeology as a scientific discipline.
Opened in 1882 in the western wing of the Trocadero Palace (fig. 1), the Museum
of Comparative Sculpture was an incarnation of the comparative theory of its found-
ing father, Eugene Viollet-le-Duc (1814 -1879), the famous architect and theorist on
historical monuments.
In 1855, Viollet-le-Duc suggested the foundation in Paris of a cast museum display-
ing major French medieval works of art.1 The establishment of a national casting
workshop and a museum of reproductions had already been claimed seven years
earlier in a petition sent to the government by the corporation of cast makers, letter
of which Viollet-le-Duc was a signatory.1
The suggestion of the architect was essentially based on political arguments.
The French government had indeed given authorization to British authorities to pro-
ceed with the casting of a series of French monuments for the Architectural Mu-
seum, founded by Gilbert Cole in 1851, and the Museum of Manufactures, established
in 1852. Viollet-le-Duc s arguments demonstrated the advanced position of England
over France, even though collections of casts already existed in Versailles since 1832
and in Paris at the School of Fine Arts since 1834. In these two institutions, French
art occupied an unimportant place in comparison with works of Antiquity and Ital-
ian sculpture.
The arguments defended by Viollet-le-Duc were ignored. It was not until 1879, that
Jules Ferry, Minister of Education and Fine Arts, finally approved two of Eugene
Viollet-le-Duc's new reports concerning the creation of a cast museum.3 If these
very detailed reports resumed the arguments previously formulated or supported
by the architect, they were innovative in terms of the concept and the arrangement
11
The cast collection of the Musee des Monuments Francais
(Paris). A panegyric of the French heritage
The palace built on the hill of Chaillot for the World Fair of 1878, enlarged for the In-
ternational Exhibition of 1937, houses the Cast collection of the Museum of com-
parative sculpture, renamed Musee des Monuments Franęais. Three years ago,
its reopening in the context of the Cite de lÄrchitecture et du Patrimoine, in Paris,
marked a new phase in the history of this centenary institution. The museum collec-
tions evolved in accordance with the different currents of thought and the doctrines
on heritage which, throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, contributed to promote
medieval archaeology as a scientific discipline.
Opened in 1882 in the western wing of the Trocadero Palace (fig. 1), the Museum
of Comparative Sculpture was an incarnation of the comparative theory of its found-
ing father, Eugene Viollet-le-Duc (1814 -1879), the famous architect and theorist on
historical monuments.
In 1855, Viollet-le-Duc suggested the foundation in Paris of a cast museum display-
ing major French medieval works of art.1 The establishment of a national casting
workshop and a museum of reproductions had already been claimed seven years
earlier in a petition sent to the government by the corporation of cast makers, letter
of which Viollet-le-Duc was a signatory.1
The suggestion of the architect was essentially based on political arguments.
The French government had indeed given authorization to British authorities to pro-
ceed with the casting of a series of French monuments for the Architectural Mu-
seum, founded by Gilbert Cole in 1851, and the Museum of Manufactures, established
in 1852. Viollet-le-Duc s arguments demonstrated the advanced position of England
over France, even though collections of casts already existed in Versailles since 1832
and in Paris at the School of Fine Arts since 1834. In these two institutions, French
art occupied an unimportant place in comparison with works of Antiquity and Ital-
ian sculpture.
The arguments defended by Viollet-le-Duc were ignored. It was not until 1879, that
Jules Ferry, Minister of Education and Fine Arts, finally approved two of Eugene
Viollet-le-Duc's new reports concerning the creation of a cast museum.3 If these
very detailed reports resumed the arguments previously formulated or supported
by the architect, they were innovative in terms of the concept and the arrangement
11