The Guimet Museum (full name in french: Musée national des arts asiatiques-Guimet; MNAAG; ) is an art museum located at 6, place d'Iéna in the

16th arrondissement The 16th arrondissement of Paris (''XVIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as ''seizième''. The arrondissement includes part of the Arc de Tr ...

of Paris, France. Literally translated into English, its full name is the National Museum of Asian Arts-Guimet, or Guimet National Museum of Asian Arts. The museum has one of the largest collections of Asian art outside of Asia.

History

Founded by Émile Étienne Guimet, an industrialist, the museum first opened at Lyon in 1879 but was later transferred to Paris, opening in the place d'Iéna in 1889. Devoted to travel, Guimet was in 1876 commissioned by the minister of public instruction to study the religions of the Far East, and the museum contains many of the fruits of this expedition, including a fine collection of Chinese and Japanese porcelain and objects relating not merely to the religions of the East, but also to those of ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome. One of its wings, the

Panthéon Bouddhique The Panthéon Bouddhique, also known as the Galeries du Panthéon Bouddhique or the Galerie du Pantheon Bouddhique du Japon et de la Chine, is a collection of Japanese and Chinese art works. It is a wing of the Guimet Museum, located within the H ...

, displays Buddhist artworks. Some of the museum's artifacts, originating from Khmer culture in Cambodia, Buddhist art from Vietnam and Indonesia, were stolen from Southeast Asia by French authorities and research institutions during the colonial period. From December 2006 to April 2007, the museum harboured collections of the Kabul Museum, with archaeological pieces from the Greco-Bactrian city of Ai-Khanoum, and the Indo-Scythian treasure of Tillia Tepe.

Works of art of the museum

Greco-Buddhist art

File:BuddhaHead.JPG,

Gandhara Gandhāra is the name of an ancient region located in the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent, more precisely in present-day north-west Pakistan and parts of south-east Afghanistan. The region centered around the Peshawar Vall ...

Buddha, 1st–2nd century CE File: GandharaScrolls.JPG, Hellenistic decorative scrolls from Hadda, northern Afghanistan File:StandingBuddha.jpg, Standing Buddha, ancient region of

, northern Afghanistan, 1st century File: NereidAndKetos.JPG, Stone palette of a Nereid sea-goddess riding a Ketos sea-monster, Sirkap, 2nd century BCE File:Indo-GreekBanquet.JPG, Wine-drinking and music, Hadda, 1st–2nd century CE File:Buddha Capitol 2.jpg, A Corinthian capitol with a Buddha at its center, 2nd century, Surk Kotal, Afghanistan File: GandharanAtlas.JPG, The Greek god Atlas, supporting a Buddhist monument, Hadda File:KushanMaitreya.JPG, The Bodhisattva

Maitreya Maitreya (Sanskrit: ) or Metteyya (Pali: ), also Maitreya Buddha or Metteyya Buddha, is regarded as the future Buddha of this world in Buddhist eschatology. As the 5th and final Buddha of the current kalpa, Maitreya's teachings will be aimed at ...

, 2nd century,

File:Gandhara Buddha scene.jpg, Scene of the life of the Buddha. 2nd–3rd century.

File:HaddaTypes.JPG, Portraits from the site of Hadda, 3rd century File:Dharmarajika statuette.jpg, Statuette excavated from the Dharmarajika Stupa site at Sirkap, Pakistan

Serindian art

File:SerindianGroup.jpg, "Heroic gesture of the Bodhisattva", 6th–7th century terracotta, Tumshuq (Xinjiang) File:SerindiaHead.JPG, Head of a Bodhisattva, 6th–7th century terracotta, Tumshuq (Xinjiang)

Chinese art

File:HanHorse.jpg, Han Dynasty Horse (1st–2nd century) File:EasternWeiBuddha.JPG, Buddha triad, Eastern Wei (534–550), China File:ForeignMerchant.jpg, Tang dynasty Foreign Merchant File:SogdiansNorthernQiStellae550CE.jpg, Northern Qi depiction of Sogdiana, Sogdians Image:Flickr - dalbera - Statue de l'Arhat Tamrabhadra (musée Guimet).jpg, One of the Yixian glazed pottery luohans, Group of glazed pottery luohans from Yixian, c. 1000 File:Porcelaine chinoise Guimet 231104.jpg, A sitting celadon lion, dated 11th to 12th century, Song dynasty File:Porcelaine chinoise Guimet 271108.jpg, A porcelain vase with design of men fighting on horseback, from the Jiajing Emperor, Jiajing reign period (1521–1567), Ming dynasty File:Plat rond Dynastie Tang Musée Guimet 2418.jpg, A round ''sancai'' dish from the Tang dynasty, 8th to 9th century File:Bodhisattva Who Leads the Way, Musée Guimet.png, Painting ''Bodhisattva Who Leads the Way'' from Mogao Caves, Mo-kao caves, 900–950 A.D.

Indian art

File:MaraAssault.jpg, An aniconic representation of Mara (demon), Mara's assault on the Buddha, 2nd century, Amaravati style, eastern India File:MathuraBodhisattvaSide.jpg, The Bodhisattva

, 2nd century, Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, Mathura File:MathuraBuddha.JPG, A Buddha, 2nd century, Mathura File:GuptaBuddha.jpg, Buddha of the Gupta Empire, Gupta period, 5th century, Mathura File:MathuraBuddhaHead.JPG, Head of a Buddha, Gupta period, 6th century Madhya pradesh, epoca candella, tirthankara rishabhanatha, x-xi sec.JPG, Rishabhanatha, sandstone, Madhya Pradesh, Chandela period, 10th–11th century File:IndianBuddha11.JPG, Buddha and Bodhisattvas, 11th century, Pala Empire File:Flickr - dalbera - Vishnou (musée Guimet).jpg, Vishnu, Madhya Pradesh, 11th–12th century File:Flickr - dalbera - Shiva Natarâdja, Seigneur de la Danse (musée Guimet).jpg, Shiva from Tamil Nadu, Chola dynasty, Chola period, 11th century File:Orissa, tirthankara rishabhanatha, xi-xii sec, 01.JPG, Rishabhanatha, 11th–12th century, Orissa

Southeast Asian art

File:Jina java Andesite Canon Eos 500 D 17092017 1.jpg, Head of Buddha taken from Borobudur, c. 8th–9th century Central Java, Indonesia File:Indonesia, agastya, da candi nagasari, arte di giava centrale, viii-ix sec.JPG, Agastya, c. 8th–9th century Central Java, Indonesia File:Brahma Musée Guimet 1197 1.jpg, Hindu deity Brahma, Cambodia File:Cambogia, brahma, da dintorni di vat baset, stile di koh ker, 925-950 ca. 00.JPG, Brahma 10th century, Khmer art, Cambodia File:Vietnam, shiva, da thap banh it (torre d'argento), stile di transiz. tra my son A1 e thap mam, Xi-Xii sec, 01.JPG, Shiva from Vijaya (Champa), Vijayapura, Vietnam File:Vietnam, vishnu garudasana, dalle montagne di marmo presso ngu hanh son, prolungam. dello stile my son E1, VIII-IX sec.JPG, Vishnu on Garuda, Champa art, Vietnam File:Nuit des musées (Musée national des arts asiatiques - Guimet)) (7233496060).jpg, Ganesha, Siem Reap, Cambodia, c. 12th–13th century File:MonWheel.jpg, Mon (ethnic group), Mons Wheel of the Law (Dharmacakra), art of Dvaravati, c. 8th century File: CambodianBuddha.JPG, A Cambodian Buddha, 14th century File:Bodhisattva Lokesvara statue.jpg, Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, Lokiteśvara, Cambodia 12th century

Notes

External links

Musée GuimetMusée national des arts Asiatiques Guimet
special issue of art magazine ''Connaissance des Arts'', available in French and English {{Authority control National museums of France Asian art museums in France Asian-French culture Art museums and galleries in Paris Buildings and structures in the 16th arrondissement of Paris Art museums established in 1879 1879 establishments in France