VISITOR GUIDEMUSÉE D’ART

ET D’HISTOIREGENEVA

Un muséeVille de Genèvewww.mah-geneve.ch

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Built between 1903 and 1910 by Genevan architect Marc Camoletti, with the aim of regrouping under one roof a number of dispersed public collections, the Musée d’art et d’histoire is one of Switzerland’s most important encyclopaedic museums. Boasting over half a million objects including a number of major works and unique series that have made it an institution of international stature, the museum maintains a permanent exhibition of a selection of its applied arts, fine arts and archaeology collections.

Regional archaeological discoveries, Egyptian and Classical antiquities, artworks, furniture, arms, musical instruments, paintings and sculptures all bear witness to 15,000 years of history. A renovation and enlargement project is currently underway and constitutes one of the major challenges facing the Museum over the coming years.

INTRODUCTION

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THE MUSEUM BY FLOOR

Elevator

Restricted zones

Cloakroom

Restaurant“Le Barocco”

Ten masterpieces

Access to other levels

Disabled access

Depending on the time at your disposal, your tastes and your desires, the Musée d’art et d’histoire can offer a large variety of itineraries. Audio guides and detailed thematic tour suggestions are available at the main entrance. Three examples of possible visits to the museum are as follows.

The portrait theme provides a good idea of the diverse range of the museum’s collections. It takes you from the Egyptian Antiquities to the Fine Arts departments. Along the way you can admire an exceptional group of Roman busts and the delicate pastel likenesses composed by the great 18th-century Genevan portraitist Jean-Étienne Liotard.

The heroines of Antiquity are also to be found all the way from the archaeological era to the fine arts collections. The tragic destinies of Niobe and Cassandra, especially as depicted on red-figure vases, constitute an enchanting circuit through the heart of the Greco-Roman collections. In the fine arts section, the frequent presence of ancient heroines, Andromeda and Lucretia in particular, bear testimony to the continual reinterpretation of themes of Antiquity by later artists.

VISITING SUGGESTIONS

TEN MASTERPIECESThis selection consists of a tour through the permanent collections with a commentary on the works’ distinctive features and highlights. These ten masterpieces would indeed deserve a visit to the museum all by themselves.

Savoyard helmetCa. 1580

Saint James the Greater,

stained glass of St. Peter’s Cathedral

1487

Antonio CanovaVenus and Adonis

1789-1794 and 1820

Konrad WitzThe Miraculous

Draught of Fishes1444

Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot

The Quai des Pâquis in Geneva, ca. 1842

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Ferdinand HodlerThe Jungfrau in the fog

1908

Félix Édouard Vallotton The Turkish Bath

1907

Colossal statue of Ramses II

19th Dynastyca. 1290-1224 BC

Large silver plate, known as the charioteer and the hunters plate

End of the 3rd-beginning of the 4th century AD

Portrait of Pompeia Plotina,

wife of TrajanBetween 118 and 120 AD

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Parade rondache, attributed to Eliseus Libaerts, Antwerp, circa 1557-1560© MAH, photo : J.-M. Yersin, inv. Arm F 78

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With more than 23,000 objects ranging in date from the Middle Ages to the 20th century, the applied arts collections are characterised by their diversity. Distributed over two floors (levels 0 and 1), they display a multitude of ancient arms, silverwork, pewterware, textiles and furniture.

The Christian Middle East constitutes the strong point of level 0, in particular thanks to its Coptic and Byzantine pieces including bronzes, liturgical objects and ceramics. The Musée d’art et d’histoire is moreover the only public institution in Switzerland to permanently exhibit a collection of Greek and Russian icons.

The Armoury Room displays arms from the late Middle Ages to the 18th century and presents artefacts from the Escalade episode of 1602, when the Duke of Savoy attempted to seize the city of Geneva.

Historic rooms immerse the viewer in a lifelike reconstitution of the past, illustrating the 20th-century predilection for presenting furniture and artworks in their original context.

Temporary exhibitions

APPLIED ARTSLEVEL 1*

A selection of the 800 musical instruments conserved by the museum is on display in an area called “musical interlude”. Dating from the late 16th to the early 18th century, these mainly string instruments illustrate the vigour of European instrument making during the Baroque period.

The silverware collection is well stocked with 18th and 19th-century French and Swiss tableware while also including pieces from all over Europe as well as North America and Peru. It is complemented by a large pewterware collection composed primarily of domestic Swiss specimens.

Several historic Swiss rooms, whose sculpted woodwork comes from the Castle of Zizers (Canton of Graubunden), display the decorative arts of the 17th century.

*galleryBuccin, trombone-like wind instrument, circa 1840 © MAH, photo : B. Jacot-Descombes, inv. IM 0496

Due to the transfer of part of the MAH collections to a new

patrimonial storage facility, the 1st floor gallery is closed.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

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The Fine Arts collections, grouped by schools or monographic assemblies ranging from the 15th to the 21st century, showcase several key moments of the history of Western painting.

Paintings from the late Middle Ages and Renaissance are arrayed around the altar piece by Konrad Witz, the museum’s centrepiece, at the crossroads of Italian and Flemish influences.

Monographic groups of first-rate importance by Genevan and Swiss artists – Liotard, Hodler, Vallotton – or those with special links to Geneva – Corot, Bram van Velde – also punctuate the display.

From Veronese to Picasso, by way of Rubens, Monet and Giacometti, every period, every school and every movement is presented around an illustrious name.

FINE ARTSLEVEL 2

Claude Monet, Peonies, 1887 © MAH, photo : Y. Siza, inv. 1985-29

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The Antiquities collection contains more than 70,000 objects. Assembled for the most part in the 19th century under the instigation of collectors, they testify to the Genevan taste for ancient civilisations.

The pieces are displayed in chronological order, leading the visitor from Pharaonic Egypt to the Roman Empire via Ancient Greece and the peoples of the Italian peninsula before the Roman expansion.

The Musée d’art et d’histoire can lay claim to having the largest Egyptian Antiquities collection in Switzerland. The flagship of the Greek collection is unquestionably the Italiote funerary vases collection from the Greek colonies of Southern Italy but the superb group of Roman sculpted portraits is not to be missed either in the Roman Antiquities room.

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Coffin of Lady Tjesmoutpert,Late Third Intermediate Period,circa 800-700 B.C., Thebes© MAH, photo : Y. Siza, inv. D 60

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The Regional Archaeology room presents the archaeological discoveries made in the Geneva region over more than a century. The chronological arrangement guides the viewer from the first signs of human occupation, around 13,000 B.C., towards the year 1000 approximately of the modern era. The objects are contextualised by photographs and reconstitutions of the sites.

This room contains one of the museum’s treasures, the oak statue, nearly three metres high, of an Allobrogian (Genevan Gaul) chieftain. Found on the site of the ancient Gallo-Roman port and miraculously conserved by wet earth, this over two-thousand-year-old statue bears witness to the meeting of the Celtic and Roman cultures.

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Fragment of a statue of an idealised young man,first half of the 1st century A.D., discovered in Geneva© MAH, photo : P.-A. Ferrazzini, inv. C 2104

SALES OUTLETThe Musées d’art et d’histoire’s exhibition catalogues as well as stationery and children’s games related to the collections are on sale at the museum main entrance.The area is accessible during the museum’s opening hours.Information : T +41 (0)22 418 26 10

RESTAURANT LE BAROCCOLe Barocco draws its recipes from local Genevan traditions and specialises in handmade pastries. During the summer months, an outdoor terrace welcomes customers in the museum’s inner courtyard.The restaurant is only accessible during the museum’s opening hours.Information and reservations : T +41 (0)22 418 26 82

AUDIOGUIDESAudioguides in French, English and German are available at the museum entrance. The visitor can choose between a general tour or a Fine Arts itinerary.Duration : 1.5 hours / Rental : CHF 5.-

VIDEOGUIDESA videoguide in French sign language is available at the reception. This tablet computer is lent free of charge with an ID deposit.

ROOM INFORMATION SHEETS Information sheets are available in most of the museum rooms, in several languages.

EXPOPASSThe Musées d’art et d’histoire offer an annual pass card giving access to all exhibitions at the Musée d’art et d’histoire, the Musée Rath, the Cabinet d’Arts Graphiques and the Maison Tavel.It can be purchased in the following locations :

the Musée d’art et d’histoire,the Musée Rath,the Cabinet d’Arts Graphiques and the Maison Tavel

Geneva Tourism & Conventions Rue du Mont-Blanc 18 1201 Genève

Wall clock, movement signed : Chevron 8 jours, n° 15852 et 1776© MAH, photo : M. Aeschimann, inv. H2005-44

Cité Seniors Rue Amat 28 1202 Genève

The Maison des Arts du Grütli Rue du Général-Dufour 16 1204 Genève

The AlhambraRue de la Rôtisserie 10 1204 Genève

GENERAL INFORMATIONMusée d’art et d’histoireRue Charles-Galland 2 | CH-1206 GenevaT +41 (0)22 418 26 00 (Monday to Friday)F +41 (0)22 418 26 01mah@ville-ge.chOpen from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Closed on Monday Cultural Outreach Programme of events – Reservations T +41 (0)22 418 25 00Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 12 noonadp-mah@ville-ge.ch

Handicapped access : Boulevard Jaques-Dalcroze 9Public transport : Bus lines 1-3-7-8-36,Tram no. 12Saint-Antoine parking nearby

Entry free of charge for permanent collectionsAdmission charged for temporary exhibitionsEntry free of charge up to age 18 and onthe first Sunday of every month

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Parc desContamines

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Rue Ferdinand-Hodler Rue François-Diday

Rue de la Corraterie

Rue Adrien-Lachenal

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Rue de l’Athénée

Route de Florissant

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THE MUSÉES D’ART ET D’HISTOIREOf a multidisciplinary nature, the Geneva Musées d’art et d’histoire extend an invitation to take a voyage back through time. They comprise a network of several different sites that constitute the largest museum group in Switzerland.

1 Musée d’art et d’histoire2 Cabinet d’arts graphiques du Musée d’art et d’histoire2 Bibliothèque d’art et d’archéologie du Musée d’art et d’histoire

Maison Tavel4 Musée Rath

Ferdinand Hodler, Study for “View into Infinity”,1913-1916, detail © MAH, photo : B. Jacot-Descombes, inv. 1939-50 d

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Cover :Jan van Os, Flowers and Nests, circa 1770-1780, detail© MAH, photo : Y. Siza, inv. 1826-21

Publishing March 2015