Cabinet des Médailles: all Things Pretty and Shiny
2 Comments Published by Cedric Benetti on Tuesday, December 15, 2009 at 12/15/2009 02:17:00 PM.
More formally known as 'Le département des Monnaies, Médailles et Antiquités de la Bibliothèque Nationale', this little museum still survives inside the old site of the national library.
The museum holds important collections of coins, engraved gems, and antiquities, with its distant origins in the treasuries of the French kings of the Middle Ages. The disruptions of the Wars of Religion inspired Charles IX to create the position of a 'garde particulier des médailles et antiques du roi' a "guardian entrusted specifically with the medals and ancient coins and antiquities of the Crown".
Thus the collection, which has been augmented and never again dispersed, passed from being the personal collection of the king to becoming a national property ('bien national') as the royal collection was declared during the Revolution.
The collection is located in the former building of the Bibliothèque Nationale, 58 rue Richelieu, Paris Ier, and can be visited for free every afternoon (13:00-17:00), seven days a week.
Labels: Art, MUSEUMS, paris history, photography
Love all of these antiques. They're beautiful. I wish things were still designed this way!
Bonjour! Cedric,
Le département des Monnaies, Médailles et Antiquités de la Bibliothèque Nationale'...
All the treasures in this small museum are..."beautiful!
Especially, the collections of coins.
Merci de partager!
DeeDee ;-D