Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Roman Rolland Museum of Art and History was founded in 1876 in Clamecy, Nièvre, on the initiative of the town hall. He first opened in a hall of the town hall, under the direction of the painter Amédée Jullien, who formed the first collections (tables, faiences, objects of curiosity). After his death in 1887, the sculptor Émile Boisseau took over in 1888. In 1909, the museum moved to the savings bank hotel, where it occupied two floors.

In 1926, Victor Gautron du Coudray became director and directed the museum towards a regional anchor, enriching the collections of coins, faiences and books. Expelled from the savings bank in 1962, the museum moved to the Bellegarde hotel (17th century) in 1967 before being renamed the Roman Rolland Museum in 1988. Between 1990 and 2005, he extended to the writer's home and to a contemporary extension, after a complete renovation.

The collections cover Gallo-Roman and Merovingian archaeology (sites of Entrains-sur-Nohain, News), paintings from the sixteenth to twentieth centuries (French, Dutch, Italian schools), posters by Charles Loupot, and local faiences. One room is dedicated to Romain Rolland ( Nobel Prize 1915), another to the flotation of wood, a historic activity of Clamey. The museum also preserves drawings by Théodore Caruelle of Aligny and engravings by René Bonargent.

The contemporary extension (1997) houses the lobby and temporary exhibitions. The cellars of the Bellegarde hotel present Gallo-Roman objects, including the Zodiacal cap of Chevroches, a rare astrological instrument. The floors display fine arts (Albanian, Stoskopff, Vernet), a Loupot fonds offered by his companion, and ceramics from the manufactures of Clamecy (18th–21st centuries).

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