The Musée Rath is an

art museum An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own Collection (artwork), collection. It might be in public or private ownership and may be accessible to all or have restrictions in place. A ...

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

, used exclusively for temporary exhibitions. Its building is the oldest purpose-built art museum in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, and the original home of Geneva's Musée d'Art et d'Histoire. It is located on Place Neuve, in front of the old city walls, next to the Grand Théâtre and near the

Conservatoire de Musique The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...

History

The museum was built between 1824 and 1826 by the architect Samuel Vaucher on behalf of the ''Société des arts''. It was partly paid for with funds that General Simon Rath (1766–1819) had bequeathed to his sisters, Jeanne-Françoise and Henriette Rath, for such a purpose; the remainder was paid by the state of Geneva. Vaucher designed the building as a temple of the

muse In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...

s, inspired by Ancient Greek temples. From 1826 to 1872, the school

École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Genève École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Genève (English: ''School of Fine Arts, Geneva''), was an art school founded in 1748 in Geneva, Switzerland. In 2006, the school was merged with the Geneva University of Art and Design (HEAD). History The � ...

was located in the basement of the Musée Rath. At first the museum was used for both permanent and temporary exhibitions, as well as art teaching and as a cultural meeting place. By 1880 it had become too small for its collections. Since the opening of the larger Musée d'Art et d'Histoire in 1910, the Musée Rath has been devoted to temporary exhibitions of Swiss and international art, and archaeology. Between 1916 and 1919 the museum was closed and the building was used for the

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

's International Prisoners-of-War Agency. The museum has been owned by the city of Geneva since 1851. The building has been under

cultural heritage management Cultural heritage management (CHM) is the vocation and practice of managing cultural heritage. It is a branch of cultural resources management (CRM), although it also draws on the practices of cultural conservation, restoration, museology, archae ...

since 1921.

References

Le Musée Rath, "temple des muses"
In: ''Feuille d'Avis Officielle de la République et du Canton de Genève'', 254th year, no. 92., 11 August 2006, p. 1. Retrieved 22 August 2010.

External links

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(partly available in English) {{DEFAULTSORT:Musee Rath Cultural infrastructure completed in 1826 Art museums established in 1826 Museums in Geneva Art museums and galleries in Switzerland 1826 establishments in Switzerland 19th-century architecture in Switzerland