Established in 1811 by imperial decree (of Napoleon Bonaparte) at the bequest of local physician and collector Esprit Calvet – who bequeathed his private collection of art and antiquities to the city of Avignon – the Musée Calvet is a museum worth visiting.
Housed in the stately hôtel Villeneuve-Martignan, former residence of Joseph-Ignace de Villeneuve-Martignan (notice his coat of arms in the courtyard), the museum’s unique and diverse collection consists of cultural artifacts, Decorative Arts, and works of Fine Art. Artists represented in the collection include: Edouard Manet, Alfred Sisley, Chaïm Soutine, Louis-Michel Van Loo, Giorgio Vasari, and Élisabeth Vigée-Le Brun (her work can also be seen in the collection of the New Orleans Museum of Art).
Enter the museum through the courtyard, which serves at times as a sculpture garden – where you’ll pass through the 19th century gilded wrought-iron gate emblazoned with the Avignon Coat of Arms.
Inside, you’re free to wander through the various rooms, some of which are decorated with marble floors and walls, ornate plasterwork, and glittering chandeliers.
Among the paintings and other artwork, objets d’art, and ancient artifacts on display, you’ll see:
Adoration of the Magi – after Hieronymus Bosch, 17th century;
Déchéance – Chaïm Soutine, ca. 1920;
The Procession of a Peasant Wedding – after Jan Bruegel the Elder, 17th century;
The Village Fair with theater and a procession – Pieter Bruegel the Younger;
View of the Old Port in Marseille – Mathieu Verdilhan;
Nature morte-Guitare et Chapeau (Still Life-Guitar and Hat) – Edouard Manet, 1862;
Fraîche Matinée, Partie de Plaisir (Fresh Morning, Pleasure Party) – Joseph Vernet, 18th century;
Joseph Vernet tied to a Mast studying the Effects of the Storm – Horace Vernet, 1822;
The Lute Lesson Interrupted – Michiel van Musscher, 1702;
Sur le zinc – Maurice de Vlaminck, 1900;
Portrait of Mademoiselle Belleudy – Louis Agricol Montagné, 1913;
The Artist’s Mother – George Desvallieres, 1903;
The Church of Saint-Gervais in Paris – Raoul Dufy, 1904;
Archangel Gabriel appears to Zachary – Reynaud Levieux, 1663;
The Virgin giving the scapular to Saint Simon Stock – Nicolas Mignard, 1644;
The Reader – Jean Raoux, ca. 1716-1728;
Indiscreet or Silence – Jean Raoux, 1728;
Apollo and Cyparissus – Claude-Marie Dubufe, 1821;
Don Juan and Haydée – Alfred Roll.
Sculptural works include:
The Lamentation of Christ – unknown, ca. 1845;
A marble and ivory bust of a Greek Woman of Eleusis by Henri Broise;
Samson fighting with the lion by Jacques Bernus;
18th-century statue of Saint Longin;
A 15th-century bas relief of Sainte Helene by Mino da Fiesole.
Objets d’art and ethnological artifacts include:
Ancient Egyptian sarcophagi;
Inscribed commemorative stones or steles;
A collection of 21st-Dynasty glazed Ouchebtis funerary statuettes;
Mummified cats and crocodiles;
Clay oil lamp from the 1st century A.D.;
Glassware such as urns, vases, and balsamaires some from the 1st and 2nd centuries A.D. discovered in nearby Vaison-la-Romaine;
17th-century Ebony Cabinet with Painted Panels by Frans Francken the Younger;
and 16th-17th century Celestial and Terrestrial Globes by Dutch cartographer Willem Janszoon Blaeu.
In addition to the permanent exhibition, Musée Calvet hosts temporary exhibits and displays works on loan from other museums. We were fortunate to see several such pieces, including:
The trailers, camp of gypsies around Arles – Vincent van Gogh, 1888.
Getting there:
Musée Calvet is located at 65, rue Joseph Vernet.
Ticket info:
Adult Admission = 6.00€
Summary
Reviewer
Mike Young
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Reviewed Item
Musée Calvet
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