The Royal Museum of Mariemont (french: Musée royal de Mariemont) is a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

situated in Mariemont, near

Morlanwelz Morlanwelz (; wa, Marlanwé) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. On 1 January 2006 Morlanwelz had a total population of 18,595. The total area is 20.26 km2 which gives a population density of 918 inhab ...

, in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. It is constituted around the personal collection of art and antiquities owned by the industrialist

Raoul Warocqué Raoul Warocqué (Brussels, 4 February 1870 – Brussels, 28 May 1917), was a Belgian industrialist from Wallonia. Biography Raoul was the great-grandson of Nicolas Warocqué, the founder of the prominent Warocqué family. His father was Arthur ...

(1870–1917) which were bequeathed to the Belgian state on his death.

Museum and collection

The museum displays a notable collection of Tournai porcelain and books, as well as antiquities from

Ancient Greece Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...

, Ancient Egypt,

Ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 B ...

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...

and the Christian

Near East The ''Near East''; he, המזרח הקרוב; arc, ܕܢܚܐ ܩܪܒ; fa, خاور نزدیک, Xāvar-e nazdik; tr, Yakın Doğu is a geographical term which roughly encompasses a transcontinental region in Western Asia, that was once the hist ...

, and the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

. In 2012, the museum was expanded by a bequest of

Pre-Columbian art Pre-Columbian art refers to the visual arts of indigenous peoples of the Caribbean, North, Central, and South Americas from at least 13,000 BCE to the European conquests starting in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. The Pre-Columbian era c ...

from the collection of Yves and Yolande Boël. Artefacts from archaeological excavations in the

Province of Hainaut Hainaut (, also , , ; nl, Henegouwen ; wa, Hinnot; pcd, Hénau), historically also known as Heynowes in English, is a province of Wallonia and Belgium. To its south lies the French department of Nord, while within Belgium it borders (clock ...

are also displayed. The original Château Warocqué, in which the museum was housed, was destroyed by fire in 1960. The current museum is housed in a building designed by the architect

Roger Bastin Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ( ...

, which was opened in 1975. Musée mariemont.JPG, View of the museum building, including the small section of the original Château which survived the fire of 1960 Musée de Mariemont R01.jpg, One of the museum's galleries, holding Chinese antiquities Mariemont Boscoreale 01.jpg, Roman frescos from

Boscoreale Boscoreale (; "Royal Grove") is an Italian ''comune ''and town in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Campania, with a population of 27,457 in 2011. Located in the Vesuvius National Park, under the slopes of Mount Vesuvius, it is known for the fruit ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Figurines Musée Mariemont 08112015 1.jpg, Ancient Greek statuettes

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Musee royal de Mariemont Museums in Hainaut (province) Art museums and galleries in Belgium History museums in Belgium Archaeological museums in Belgium Organisations based in Belgium with royal patronage