The Musée national de la Marine (; "National Navy Museum") is a

maritime museum A maritime museum (sometimes nautical museum) is a museum specializing in the display of objects relating to ships and travel on large bodies of water. A subcategory of maritime museums are naval museums, which focus on navy, navies and the m ...

located in the Palais de Chaillot, Trocadéro, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. It has annexes at Brest, Port-Louis, Rochefort ( Musée National de la Marine de Rochefort), and

Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...

. The permanent collection originates in a collection that dates back to Louis XV of France.

History

In 1748, Henri-Louis Duhamel du Monceau offered a collection of models of ships and naval installations to Louis XV of France, with the request that the items be displayed at the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

and made available to students of the Naval engineers school, which Duhamel headed. The collection was put on display in 1752, in a room of the first floor, next to the Academy of Sciences; the room was called "''Salle de Marine''" (Navy room), and was used for teaching. With the French Revolution, the Salle de Marine closed in 1793. The collection was added to models owned by the King personally, to others owned by the Ministry of Navy, and yet others owned by

émigré An ''émigré'' () is a person who has emigrated, often with a connotation of political or social exile or self-exile. The word is the past participle of the French verb ''émigrer'' meaning "to emigrate". French Huguenots Many French Hugueno ...

s or executees (notably Philippe Égalité). A short-lived museum was opened between 1801, and 1803, at the Ministry of Navy, then located at

Place de la Concorde The Place de la Concorde (; ) is a public square in Paris, France. Measuring in area, it is the largest square in the French capital. It is located in the city's eighth arrondissement, at the eastern end of the Champs-Élysées. It was the s ...

. In 1810,

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

ordered a gallery of 19 models, known as the Trianon model collection, to be put on display in his offices at Grand Trianon, as to document the types of warships in usage in the French Navy at the time. Jacques-Noël Sané was put in charge of the task. Napoleon also had a model of the frigate ''Muiron'' in his bedroom at Château de Malmaison. In 1827, after the Bourbon Restoration,

Charles X Charles X may refer to: * Charles X of France (1757–1836) * Charles X Gustav (1622–1660), King of Sweden * Charles, Cardinal de Bourbon (1523–1590), recognized as Charles X of France but renounced the royal title See also * * King Charle ...

ordered a Naval museum to be opened at the Louvre. The task was given to Pierre Zédé. Rooms were also opened or restored in Cherbourg, Brest, Lorient, Rochefort and Toulon. In 1852,

Antoine Léon Morel-Fatio Antoine Léon Morel-Fatio (born Antoine Léon Morel; 17 January 1810 – 2 March 1871) was a French painter and politician who served as the ''Peintre de la Marine'' in 1854. Born in Rouen, Normandy, he Double-barrelled name, added "Fatio" to his ...

became curator of the Museum. He emphasised the importance of painting, adding to the works of Joseph Vernet. He also made a catalogue of the items, and reorganised the ethnographic items of the collection. In 1871, Admiral François-Edmond Pâris became curator, and had over 400 models of small crafts indigenous to different locations of the French Empire constructed. From 1905, ethnographic items were transferred to other museums, and in 1920, the administration of the Museum was transferred to the

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

. In 1937, part of the Palais de Chaillot was devoted to harbouring the museum, which opened on 15 August 1943. From 1971, the museum became an autonomous body under the Ministry of Defence. In 1975, it was instrumental in the restoration of the Port-Louis fortress in

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

. In 1992, it purchased Éric Tabarly's ''Pen Duick V'', now serving in the French Navy as a sailing school ship.

Gallery

File:Metal plate (Musée national de la Marine).JPG, Military-themed metal plate exhibited in the Musée national de la Marine. File:Weapons (Musée national de la Marine).JPG, Old weapons exhibited in the Musée national de la Marine. File:Neptune sculpture (Yves Collet).JPG,

Neptune Neptune is the eighth and farthest known planet from the Sun. It is the List of Solar System objects by size, fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 t ...

sculpture by Yves Collet exhibited in the Musée national de la Marine. File:Wooden Handcuffs (Musée national de la Marine).JPG, Wooden

Stocks Stocks are feet and hand restraining devices that were used as a form of corporal punishment and public humiliation. The use of stocks is seen as early as Ancient Greece, where they are described as being in use in Solon's law code. The law de ...

exhibited in the Musée national de la Marine. File:Poupe-de-la-galere-la-reale.jpg, Stern decoration of the

Galley A galley is a type of ship optimised for propulsion by oars. Galleys were historically used for naval warfare, warfare, Maritime transport, trade, and piracy mostly in the seas surrounding Europe. It developed in the Mediterranean world during ...

'' La Réale.'' File:Mitrailleuse, canonnière type Farcy.jpg, Louis Tauzin, ''Mitrailleuse, canonnière type Farcy, devant Tuyen Quan'', 1886. File:Revolver, canonnière type Farcy.jpg, Louis Tauzin, ''Revolver, canonnière type Farcy, au rapide de Yuoc'', 1886.

Renovation

Beginning in 2017, the Museum was closed for extensive renovations. According to the museum's website, "the ambition is to make this new museum the great place of the sea and sailors in Paris." The redesigned and renovated museum opened in October 2023.

Sources and references

External links

Official museum website

Ancient postcards of models and objects from the "Musée national de la Marine" published from about 1909 to 1939 when the Museum was at the Louvre palace.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Musee national de la Marine Museums in Paris Maritime museums in France Marine art museums Buildings and structures in the 16th arrondissement of Paris National museums of France Naval museums Museums established in 1827