The Berry Museum, Bourges, France

The Hôtel Cujas, which is a listed historical monument, has housed the Berry Museum since 1892.

The ground floor is occupied by the archaeological collections, with protohistoric (locally-found bronze Etruscan artefacts) and especially Gallo-Roman finds. Bourges-Avaricum was the capital of the ancient province of Aquitaine.

The lapidary section includes a large number of funeral items (220 steles), as well as fragments of religious architecture and sculptures.

Sculptures from the Holy Chapel of Bourges, mourners from the tomb of Duke John of Berry, as well as stained glass windows and precious objects are exhibited in another aisle of the museum.

Paintings and drawings by Jean Boucher, a particularly active artist in Bourges during the first third part of the 17th century, can also be seen in the same aisle.

On the first floor, rural life in Berry in the 19th century is brought to life through everyday items, furniture, costumes, tools used by farmers and craftsmen. A room is devoted to the works of the famous 19th century potters from the village of La Borne : the Talbot family.

Finally, another small room exhibits Egyptian funeral objects, including a mummy in its sarcophagus.

References:

City of Bourges

Museums in France

User Reviews

ouzé helene (2 years ago)
Magnificent building, extremely beautiful.

Sylvie chapurlat (3 years ago)
To see and to visit. Very pleasant staff. And visit of the very interesting Hotel Cujas To do.

Christophe Petitgas (3 years ago)
Splendid place steeped in history. Louis XII is omnipresent. Icing on the cake, luckily there was the Schneider exhibition....a real discovery of the diversity of this prestigious house. A delight !

Jean pierre De carcassone (4 years ago)
Long live France !! Long live Berry!! Long live Bourges!! Superb museum (it rivals the Louvre). Unequaled antique works retracing the history of the magnificent city of Bourges.

Chihabe idine Raquib (6 years ago)
The Berry Museum is a museum located in Bourges, the historic capital of Berry. The collection behind the museum was founded in 1834 by Claude-Denis Mater. Installed first in part of the Palais Jacques-Cœur then in the current Hôtel d'Anglande, rue Jacques Cœur, it has been housed since 1891 in the Hôtel Cujas. It was in 1912 that it took the title of “Museum of Berry”. Originally made up of coins and works of art, the Berry Museum collection has gradually been enriched in these disciplines, as well as in the fields of archeology and medieval history. It was only from 1950 that a real regional ethnographic background was created. Currently, the ground floor is devoted to archaeological collections, from prehistory to the end of Gallo-Roman times. One of these rooms notably exhibits 220 Gallo-Roman steles and decorations from ancient Bourges. Another room brings together a collection of Egyptian funerary objects, including the mummy of Djehdor, dating from the 4th century BC. We also notice Etruscan bronzes from the protohistoric period, mosaics, wall paintings, glass dishes, terracottas and bronzes from the Gallo-Roman period. Another wing is devoted to the arts of Berry: a room exhibits the mourners from the tomb of Duke Jean de Berry among other medieval works. There are also paintings by the painter Jean Boucher (1568 - 1632), known as Boucher de Bourges. On the first floor, there are works by Italian, Dutch and French painters with works dating from the 16th to the 19th century.

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