The Foundation of the Collection
Located in Saint-Cloud, France, the Musée du Grand Siècle is situated within the renovated Caserne Sully in the lower part of the Domaine national. The institution is built upon the donation of Pierre Rosenberg, an academician and former director of the Louvre. This collection forms the core of the site, which is currently undergoing a transition as works are temporarily housed at the Petit Château de Sceaux. The project aims to present a panorama of French civilization from the seventeenth century through various artistic mediums.
The holdings are organized into three distinct entities: the museum itself, a collectors' cabinet, and a research center. These spaces are designed to facilitate the study of the Grand Siècle through extensive documentation and a specialized library. The collection is characterized by its breadth, spanning from the fifteenth to the first half of the twentieth century.
Artistic Holdings and Material Culture
The museum maintains a significant assembly of works that reflect the aesthetic and social history of the period. The paintings and drawings are supported by a vast library of approximately 50,000 volumes. The collection includes:
- 673 paintings by artists ranging from the fifteenth century to the mid-twentieth century.
- 3,502 drawings dating from the sixteenth to the twentieth century.
- 805 Murano glass animals produced in the twentieth century.
- A diverse array of sculptures, furniture, engravings, and medals.
Among the specific works held in the catalog are several notable examples of seventeenth-century painting. These include The Baptism of Christ (1648) by Nicolas Poussin, Annunciation (1650) by Philippe de Champaigne, and Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence (1650) by Lubin Baugin. Additionally, the collection contains Nature morte bécasse by Pierre Alexis Lesage.
The Research Environment
Beyond the exhibition of objects, the site functions as a center for historical inquiry. The research center is dedicated to the study of the Grand Siècle, utilizing the extensive documentation and the art history library to support academic work. The architecture of the former Caserne Sully provides the physical framework for this scholarly mission, integrating the study of material culture with the preservation of historical records. The institution continues to expand its scope through an ongoing policy of acquisitions and loans from other major museums.
