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FAMOUS SHIPS |
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FAMOUS SHIPS |
The MUSEE DE LA
MARINE, PARIS, FRANCE
The Musee De
La Marine in Paris, France is one of the oldest maritime museums in the world.
It also had one of the most difficult times maintaining its identity and
function throughout the years – the National Convention on August 7, 1793,
declared that the academies and literary societies were obviously of no national
interest and were therefore to be closed! The
maritime museum survived this attack, and ultimately had many contributions to
the museum from the Revolution. A
large number of the models now in the museum were obtained as a result of the
confiscation of many of the nobles’ models along with the royal collection.
One of the most important was the magnificent models belonging to the
duke of Orleans, himself a victim of the guillotine.
The
collections of the museum have had other difficulties throughout the years.
One interesting fact is the loan of some models to the official court
painter Theodore Gudin by the insistence of
King Louis Philippe. In spite of
repeated requests over a period of many years, Gudin failed to return the
models. They in fact made their way
back to the museum after the famous artist’s death.
The models were received by the museum in a state of destruction.
It seems that the famous artist had the models dealt blows from swords
and blasts of shot so they would give a more realistic effect when used as
models for painting naval engagements!
In
March of 1871 the museum again faced possible extinction when the German
soldiers marched into Paris in one of the grim moments of the Franco-Prussian
War. A few days later the
communards – members of the commune of Paris – set fire to the Tuileries
palace and almost burned the museum in the process.
Since
1943, the Musee de la Marine has been housed in the Palais de Chaillot, which
overlooks one of the most beautiful angles of Paris, facing the Eiffel Tower and
the Champ de Mars. Thanks to the
wealth of its collections, the Musee de la Marine represents the French maritime
tradition and the special connections between the French people and the ocean.
The
most spectacular models on display in the museums of Paris and Toulon are six
large scale ship models built in the 17th and 18th
centuries for instruction purposes. There
is a model of a steamship invented by Jouffroy d’Abbans in 1783 which sailed
successfully on the Saone and the Rhone rivers in 1782.
When you enter the museum, you are greeted by a large, late 18th
century scale model of the 120-gun L’Ocean.
There is a beautiful model of the Le Reale along with the actual golden
ornaments of the galley La Reale by Le Brun, 1674.
There
are famous paintings of French harbors by Claude-Joseph Vernet.
Queen Marie Antoinette’s fully ornamented longboat’s carved bow and
stern are on display. Napoleon’s
barge, 1811, is on display with carvings by Collet.
Another of Napoleon’s possessions, a ship model of the frigate MOIRON,
which was kept in Napoleon’s private apartment in Malmaison, along with a tiny
ivory model given the empress Marie Louise on the occasion of the birth of her
son, Napoleon II, are part of this museum’s extensive collection of historic
models.
Admiral
Paris is one of the museums great curators.
He contributed an outstanding collection of exotic models and was a
pioneer of the steamship collection. A
model of the La Gloire, the first armored cruiser in the world, is there.
The museum also has an outstanding collection of books and manuscripts
which numbers approximately 50,000 including a large heritage from the 18th
century. There are also 350,000
documents, shipyard drawings, and photographs that make the Musee de la Marine a
center for studies and research on French naval history and shipbuilding.
The
museum also keeps up to date with items from such people as Jacques-Yves
Cousteau and famous skippers engaged in the yacht races.
This is a complete maritime museum for all who are interested in ships
and the sea and well worth your effort to go and see when you visit Paris,
France.