Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Musée des Beaux-Arts et d'Archéologie de Troyes, officially named Musée Saint-Loup, originated in the revolutionary confiscations of 1792. The Departmental Assembly, wishing to create a museum, asked the Convention to use the former Abbey of Notre-Dame-Aux-Nonnais. Commissioners were sent to collect objects in the department, while architect Milony gathered statues on the ground floor of Saint-Loup Abbey, coming from destroyed churches and convents. This initial project did not succeed, but laid the foundations for future collections.

In 1829, the Société académie de l'Aube launched the project, and the city granted the buildings of the abbey Saint-Loup. The first hall opened in 1831 with seven paintings, ten statues and a mineralogic collection. In 1833, Dominique Morlot's donation enriched the fonds with 46 paintings, enamels, models and drawings. The revolutionary seizures at the department hotel were also added. By 1850, the museum already had 130 paintings, marking the beginning of its expansion.

The museum gradually expanded with the construction of the Simart Pavilion in 1860, the Buissonnet Pavilion in 1891 for the library, and the Audiffred Pavilion in 1892. Its collections, covering the evolution of the applied arts until the 19th century, include art objects, archaeology pieces, furniture, graphic arts, sculptures and paintings. Major works include paintings by Rubens, Van Dyck, Watteau, Boucher, Fragonard, and David, as well as sculptures by Girardon and Cordier.

Archaeology occupies a central place, with rooms ranging from Prehistory to the Merovingian period, exhibited in the vaulted cellars of the Abbey. Pouan's treasure, discovered in 1842, is one of the jewels of the museum. Composed of arms and jewels from a princely tomb of the fifth century, it was acquired by Napoleon III in 1858 and donated to the museum in 1860. This treasure, attributed to an aristocratic warrior, illustrates the partitioned silverware of the invasions.

The collections of French paintings from the 17th and 18th centuries are particularly remarkable, with works by Champaigne, Le Brun, Natoire, Boucher, and Fragonard. Natoire's decorative cycles, commissioned by Philibert Orry for the Château de La Chapelle-Godefroy, are among the most prestigious ensembles. Medieval sculpture, from the cathedral of Troyes and the convent of the Cordeliers, as well as the 19th century sculptors' workshops, complete this artistic panorama.

The museum is also enriched by donations and local archaeological excavations, such as the first century Roman villa discovered in 1994 in Troyes, containing mosaics and a treasure of 186,200 bronze coins. These discoveries, combined with pieces of decorative art and ethnology, make the museum a must to understand the history and art of the Champagne region.

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