The Bastion Museum is a museum of works by

Jean Cocteau Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau (, , ; 5 July 1889 – 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, filmmaker, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost creatives of the su ...

, on the harbour wall of

Menton Menton (; , written ''Menton'' in classical norm or ''Mentan'' in Mistralian norm; it, Mentone ) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera, close to the Italian border. Me ...

, on the

French Riviera The French Riviera (known in French as the ; oc, Còsta d'Azur ; literal translation " Azure Coast") is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is usually considered to extend fro ...

, in the

Alpes-Maritimes Alpes-Maritimes (; oc, Aups Maritims; it, Alpi Marittime, "Maritime Alps") is a department of France located in the country's southeast corner, on the Italian border and Mediterranean coast. Part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, it ...

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

of France. The Bastion was built in the 17th century by

Honoré II, Prince of Monaco Honoré II (24 December 1597 – 10 January 1662) was Prince of Monaco from 1604 to 1662. He was the first to be called Prince (in 1612), but started his reign as Lord of Monaco. Early life Honoré II was born on 24 December 1597. He was the s ...

. Cocteau restored the Bastion himself, decorating the alcoves, reception hall and outer walls with mosaics made from pebbles. The Bastion Museum opened in 1966, three years after Cocteau's death. A new exhibition of Cocteau's work is installed in the Bastion every year.

History

In 1619, Honoré II Grimaldi,

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

, ordered the construction of a small fort on what was then a rock

islet An islet is a very small, often unnamed island. Most definitions are not precise, but some suggest that an islet has little or no vegetation and cannot support human habitation. It may be made of rock, sand and/or hard coral; may be permanent ...

to defend Menton from seaward attacks. Construction was completed in 1636. The fort housed a brick-vaulted guardroom and a kitchen on the upper floor and a

gunpowder magazine A gunpowder magazine is a magazine (building) designed to store the explosive gunpowder in wooden barrels for safety. Gunpowder, until superseded, was a universal explosive used in the military and for civil engineering: both applications requ ...

on the lower floor. The

oven upA double oven A ceramic oven An oven is a tool which is used to expose materials to a hot environment. Ovens contain a hollow chamber and provide a means of heating the chamber in a controlled way. In use since antiquity, they have been us ...

can still be seen in what used to be the kitchen. Access from land was made via a wooden walkway and steps through a doorway on the upper level, above which the Grimaldi crest carved in the stone

lintel A lintel or lintol is a type of beam (a horizontal structural element) that spans openings such as portals, doors, windows and fireplaces. It can be a decorative architectural element, or a combined ornamented structural item. In the case of w ...

is still visible. After Menton seceded from Monaco in 1848, the fort was used as a salt storehouse. When the harbor was built in the late 19th century, the Bastion was integrated into the

mole Mole (or Molé) may refer to: Animals * Mole (animal) or "true mole", mammals in the family Talpidae, found in Eurasia and North America * Golden moles, southern African mammals in the family Chrysochloridae, similar to but unrelated to Talpida ...

and converted into a

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

. It later served as a jail during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Name

Although not technically a

bastion A bastion or bulwark is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fi ...

but rather a

blockhouse A blockhouse is a small fortification, usually consisting of one or more rooms with loopholes, allowing its defenders to fire in various directions. It is usually an isolated fort in the form of a single building, serving as a defensive stro ...

, the building was known to locals as ''u Bastian'' in the

Mentonasc dialect Mentonasc (; Mentonasco in Italian, Mentonnais or Mentonasque in French) is a Romance dialect historically spoken in and around Menton, France. It is classified as a dialect of Occitan and a sub-dialect of Vivaro-Alpine, with some strong influen ...

. Jean Cocteau nicknamed it ''"the Citadel"''.

Collection

The original collection was made up of 102 pieces selected by Jean Cocteau specifically for this museum, including 70 drawings, 2 paintings, 3

lithograph Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...

s, 2

tapestries Tapestry is a form of textile art, traditionally woven by hand on a loom. Tapestry is weft-faced weaving, in which all the warp threads are hidden in the completed work, unlike most woven textiles, where both the warp and the weft threads may ...

and 11

ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...

pieces, all colorful works from Cocteau's Mediterranean period (1950–1963). It was later expanded through purchases and donations by Cocteau's legatee Édouard Dermit and artist Irène Lagut. Notable works include the ''Innamorati'' and ''Sphinxes'' series of wax pastel drawings, the ''Judith and Holofernes'' tapestry and sketches for the decor of the Menton wedding hall. Since the opening of musée Jean Cocteau collection Severin Wunderman in 2011, both museums' collections have been merged. The collection of Wunderman was collected, purchased and curated for Mr. Wunderman by his Executive Director Chevalier Tony Clark of the Severin Wunderman Museum. The Bastion museum hosts sections of musée Jean Cocteau collection Severin Wunderman's exhibitions or its own.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control 1966 establishments in France Art museums established in 1966 History of Monaco Jean Cocteau Menton Museums in Alpes-Maritimes

History

Name

Collection

See also

References

External links