The Musée Archéologique de Dijon is an

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...

museum focusing on the archaeology of Burgundy that was founded in 1832 in Côte-d'Or within

Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earlies ...

, France. It contains collections regarding "the men of Burgandy" that covers the periods of

prehistory Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use ...

protohistory Protohistory is a period between prehistory and history during which a culture or civilization has not yet developed writing, but other cultures have already noted the existence of those pre-literate groups in their own writings. For example, in ...

, the rule of Ancient Rome, and the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

as well as collections of paleochristian art,

sacred art Religious art is artistic imagery using religious inspiration and motifs and is often intended to uplift the mind to the spiritual. Sacred art involves the ritual and cultic practices and practical and operative aspects of the path of the spiritu ...

, and church architecture. The museum's collection and location have been housed since 1934 in the main wing of the Abbey of St. Bénigne, situated next door to the

Dijon Cathedral Dijon Cathedral, or the Cathedral of Saint Benignus of Dijon (french: Cathédrale Saint-Bénigne de Dijon), is a Roman Catholic church located in the town of Dijon, Burgundy, France, and dedicated to Saint Benignus of Dijon. The Gothic cathedral ...

History

up The Benedictine Dormitory ( Gothic Style, 13th Century). The museum first emerged as a collection created by a subdivision of the

Academy of Dijon In France, various types of institution have the term "University" in their name. These include the public universities, which are the autonomous institutions that are distinguished as being state institutes of higher education and research that p ...

called the Commission des Antiquités du Département de la Côte-d'Or in 1832. The intended goal of the collection and organization was to preserve historical monuments and conduct archaeological operations at major sites such as the Gallo-Roman site at

Alise-Sainte-Reine Alise-Sainte-Reine (Alise-Ste-Reine) is a commune in the Côte-d'Or department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of eastern France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Alisiens'' and ''Alisiennes''. Geography Alise-Sainte-Reine i ...

. The collection was initially displayed in the Rolin Hotel, a private mansion in Dijon. In 1934, the collection moved permanently to the Benedictine dormitory of the Abbey of St. Bénigne; the museum was municipalized in 1955 and began to occupy more levels of the building as the collection was expanded through local archaeological efforts.

Collections

The museum houses collections from sites across Burgundy on its various floors.

Level 0

The chapter house and

scriptorium Scriptorium (), literally "a place for writing", is commonly used to refer to a room in medieval European monasteries devoted to the writing, copying and illuminating of manuscripts commonly handled by monastic scribes. However, lay scribes an ...

includes wood carved offerings to the goddess

Sequana In Gallo-Roman religion, Sequana is the goddess of the river Seine, particularly the springs at the source of the Seine, and the Gaulish tribe the Sequani. The springs, called the ''Fontes Sequanae'' ("The Springs of Sequana"), are located in a va ...

, a number of bas reliefs, and a sculpture of Sequana. Pilgrims from as far as the Mediterranean came to offer Sequana

ex-voto An ex-voto is a votive offering to a saint or to a divinity; the term is usually restricted to Christian examples. It is given in fulfillment of a vow (hence the Latin term, short for ''ex voto suscepto'', "from the vow made") or in gratitude o ...

s at the source of the

Seine River ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributaries ...

, with the temple to her being expanded by the Romans before its destruction in the fourth or fifth century AD. Included on this level is a drawn reconstruction of the numerous structures of the temple. The sculpture of Sequana and the ex-votos associated with her worship are considered a centerpiece of the museum, with curator Frédérique Bouvard remarking that the duckboat statue of Sequana is the museum's "Mona Lisa."

Level 1

up Claus Sluter, ''Christ Crowned with Thorns'', (14th century). The monks' dormitory exhibits Romanesque sculptures, including a bust of

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

wearing a

crown of thorns According to the New Testament, a woven crown of thorns ( or grc, ἀκάνθινος στέφανος, akanthinos stephanos, label=none) was placed on the head of Jesus during the events leading up to his crucifixion. It was one of the in ...

sculpted by

Claus Sluter Claus Sluter (1340s in Haarlem – 1405 or 1406 in Dijon) was a Dutch sculptor, living in the Duchy of Burgundy from about 1380. He was the most important northern European sculptor of his age and is considered a pioneer of the "northern reali ...

. The bust is a fragment of a larger limestone crucifix that was erected in the courtyard of the

Carthusian The Carthusians, also known as the Order of Carthusians ( la, Ordo Cartusiensis), are a Latin enclosed religious order of the Catholic Church. The order was founded by Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns. The order has i ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whi ...

Champmol The Chartreuse de Champmol, formally the ''Chartreuse de la Sainte-Trinité de Champmol'', was a Carthusian monastery on the outskirts of Dijon, which is now in France, but in the 15th century was the capital of the Duchy of Burgundy. The monast ...

in Dijon as part of Sluter's Well of Moses. It was removed from the monument at an unknown time in the 18th century and later transported to the museum after being located in a wall in Dijon in the 19th century. The accompanying sculpture of Mary Magdalene has been lost.Nash(2005), pp. 798–809

Level 2

Artifacts and art from the Paleolithic to

Merovingian period The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gauli ...

are displayed: * Paleolithic

lithic flakes In archaeology, a lithic flake is a "portion of rock removed from an objective piece by percussion or pressure,"Andrefsky, W. (2005) ''Lithics: Macroscopic Approaches to Analysis''. 2d Ed. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press and may also be ref ...

and cores * Jewelry and

weapons A weapon, arm or armament is any implement or device that can be used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime, law enforcement, s ...

from the Merovingian period, including

fibulae The fibula or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. Its upper extremity is ...

encrusted with garnets * Artifacts from a site in Étaules *

Ceramics 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 ...

with

pewter Pewter () is a malleable metal alloy consisting of tin (85–99%), antimony (approximately 5–10%), copper (2%), bismuth, and sometimes silver. Copper and antimony (and in antiquity lead) act as hardeners, but lead may be used in lower grades ...

decoration from Chaume-lès-Baigneux * Artifacts from the Abbey of St. Bénigne dating to the Middle Ages

References

Sources

* Nash, Susie. "The Lord's Crucifix of Costly Workmanship: Colour, Collaboration and the Making of Meaning on the Well of Moses" in ''Circumlitio. The Polychromy of Antique and Late Medieval Sculpture'', ed. V. Brinkmann, O. Primavesi and M. Hollein (Frankfurt am Main, 2010), pp. 356–381
full PDF
* Nash, Susie. "Claus Sluter's 'Well of Moses' for the Chartreuse de Champmol Reconsidered: Part I". ''The Burlington Magazine'', Dec 2005. Volume=147, issue=1233

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Musee archeologique de Dijon Museums established in 1832 Museums in Dijon 1832 establishments in France